G-4 Glossarycompetitive styles: Conflict styles that promote the
interests of individuals who see conflict as “win-
lose” battles.
complementing: Nonverbal behavior that matches
(without actually mirroring) the verbal message
it accompanies.
compromising: A way to resolve conflict in which
both parties must give up something to gain
something.
conflict: A negative interaction between two or
more interdependent people, rooted in some
actual or perceived disagreement.
conflict management: The way we engage in conflict
and address disagreements with relational partners.
conflict styles: Sets of goals and strategies that peo-
ple use to manage conflict.
connotative meaning: The emotional or attitudinal
response people have to a word.
consensus: Group solidarity in sentiment, belief, or
decision.
contact cultures: Cultures that depend on touch as
an important form of communication.
content-oriented listeners: Critical listeners who
carefully evaluate what they hear; they prefer to
listen to information from sources they feel are
credible and critically examine the information
they receive from a variety of angles.
contradicting: Nonverbal behavior that conveys
meaning opposite of the verbal message.
control: The ability of one person, group, or orga-
nization to influence others, and the manner in
which their relationships are conducted.
convergence: When speakers shift their language or
nonverbal behaviors toward each other’s way of
communicating.
cooperative strategies: Strategies that benefit a re-
lationship, serve mutual rather than individual
goals, and strive to produce solutions that benefit
both parties.
costs: The negative elements of a relationship.
countercoalitions: Subgroups that are positioned
against other subgroups.
cover letter: A one-page letter indicating interest in
a specific position.
credibility: The quality, authority, and reliability of
a source of information.
critical listening: Evaluating or analyzing informa-
tion, evidence, ideas, or opinions; also known as
evaluative listening.cultivation theory: The argument that a steady,
long-term diet of heavy television viewing results
in perceptions of reality that match the (dis-
torted) view of reality presented on television.
cultural myopia: A form of cultural nearsightedness
grounded in the belief that one’s own culture is
appropriate and relevant in all situations and to
all people.
culture: A learned system of thought and behavior
that belongs to and typifies a relatively large
group of people; the composite of their shared
beliefs, values, and practices.
cyberbullying: Multiple abusive attacks on individual
targets conducted through electronic channels.
deception: The attempt to convince others of some-
thing that is false.
declining stage: The stage at which a relationship
begins to come apart.
decoding: The process of receiving a message by
interpreting and assigning meaning to it.
deductive reasoning: The line of thought that
occurs when one draws specific conclusions from
a general argument.
defensive climate: A communication climate in
which the people involved feel threatened.
defensive listening: Responding with aggression
and arguing with the speaker without fully
listening to the message.
definitional speech: A presentation whose main
goal is to provide answers to “what” questions
by explaining to an audience what something is.
definition by etymology: Defining something by
using the origin of a word or phrase.
definition by example: Defining something by of-
fering concrete examples of what it is.
definition by negation: Defining something by tell-
ing what it is not.
definition by synonym: Defining something by us-
ing words that mean almost the same thing.
delivery cues: In a speech outline, brief reminders
about important information related to the de-
livery of the speech.
demographics: The systematic study of the quanti-
fiable characteristics of a large group.
demonstration speech: A speech that answers
“how” questions by showing an audience the
way something works.
denotative meaning: The basic, consistently ac-
cepted definition of a word.2 20_OHA_45766_Gloss_G_1_16.indd G-4 0 OHA 45766 _GlossG 1 _ 16 .indd G- 4 13/10/14 5:40 PM 13 / 10 / 14 5 : 40 PM