The many narrative cases in this book offer dramatic, real-life snapshots of interpersonal theory in action. Written by established communication scholars and reflecting carefully conducted research, each case helps you apply abstract principles to specific situations, people, and relationships. As you read these cases, you'll also learn to appreciate how multiple communication dynamics work together to shape what happens in human interactions - for example, how a case focusing on self-disclosure also gives you insights into such issues as timing, context, and style of communication. And as you identify patterns revealed in the cases, you'll develop the ability to detect these patterns in your own interactions and ultimately make more informed choices about which patterns to foster and avoid in your interpersonal relationships.

The second edition of this book again uses original case studies as a means to bring home to students, through lived experiences, the theories and concepts of interpersonal communication. Each piece takes an arts-based approach--spanning essays, short stories, scripts, photographs, poetry-- and has been newly written for this edition by communication researchers, writers, and artists. The case studies focus on the aesthetic dimensions of relating to illustrate to students the workings of relationship management with regards to friendship, race, class, gender, family interaction, sexuality, and other key topics in relational communication. The case studies are framed from a critical interpersonal perspective to encourage students to consider how power and cultural discourses about relationships influence their relating. Faulkner's introduction to each section provides important pedagogical content to give context and meaning to the cases that follow. Each case closes with questions for discussion, activities, and additional resources to help students analyze the material. The book is suited as core or supplemental reading for courses in interpersonal or relational communication.

Previous editions ('Social Skills in Interpersonal Communication') have established this work as the standard textbook on communication. Directly relevant to a multiplicity of research areas and professions, this thoroughly revised and updated edition has been expanded to include the latest research as well as a new chapter on negotiating. Key examples and summaries have been augmented to help contextualise the theory of skilled interpersonal communication in terms of its practical applications. Combining both clarity and a deep understanding of the subject matter, the authors have succeeded in creating a new edition which will be essential to anyone studying or working in the field of interpersonal communication.

Featuring several all-new chapters, revisions, and updates, the Second Edition of A Cultural Approach to Interpersonal Communication presents an interdisciplinary collection of key readings that explore how interpersonal communication is socially and culturally mediated. Includes key readings from the fields of cultural and linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, and communication studies Features new chapters that focus on digital media Offers new introductory chapters and an expanded toolkit of concepts that students may draw on to link culture, communication, and community Expands the Ethnographer’s Toolkit to include an introduction to basic concepts followed by a range of ethnographic case studies