Interpersonal versus Impersonal Continuum

Interpersonal versus Impersonal Continuum

After tracking my interactions with other people for the past seventy-two hours, I noticed that my interpersonal interactions outweigh the impersonal ones. However, I am satisfied with this balance because I have never been one to talk to people I don’t know. I prefer conversing with people I am close to and feel comfortable with, whether in person or on the phone. Besides, I try to keep impersonal conversations to a minimum. For example, I never want to talk to a shop attendant unless I truly have to. I feel that small conversations can be difficult since most people have pre-programmed answers while others only put up a facade, and therefore, the talks can be a waste of time for both of us because they are not productive. Honestly, not many ever really care about these conversations. Another reason why I feel satisfied with this balance is because I am better at listening than I am at speaking. I prefer listening to other people, which means that in most cases, someone else is always starting the interaction, and I actively engage by listening and only talk once in a while.

Nevertheless, even though I am satisfied with this balance, I also learned that the healthiest interactions for a person should be a perfect mixture of both superficial (impersonal) and deeper, meaningful (interpersonal) interactions (Adler, Rosenfeld & Proctor II, 2007). As such, it is now upon me to make sure that I engage in more impersonal interactions. Some of the ideas that I have come up with to help me with this is being more active on social media platforms. I could increase my impersonal interactions on social media by finding things I am passionate about and trying to engage with people by commenting or asking questions about them. Another idea is I could use platforms like Omegle to video chat with random strangers about anything.

References

Adler, R. B., Rosenfeld, L. B., & Proctor II, R. F. (2007). The process of Interpersonal communication: Interplay.

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Interpersonal versus Impersonal Continuum

Track your interactions with others for 48-72 hours and consider who falls into the interpersonal versus impersonal continuum.

*Is this balance satisfying to you?

*Why or why not?

*What ideas do you have for altering your interpersonal versus impersonal interactions?

Please make sure that you have answered each question.