Glossary G-7human relations approach: Management approach
that considers the human needs of organizational
members.
human resources approach: An approach to man-
agement that considers organizational produc-
tivity from workers’ perspectives and considers
them assets who can contribute their useful ideas
to improve the organization.
human trafficking: The recruitment of people for
exploitative purposes.
hurtful language: Inappropriate, damaging, mean,
sarcastic, or offensive statements that affect oth-
ers in negative ways.
hyperbole: Vivid, colorful language with great emo-
tional intensity and often exaggeration.
hyperpersonal communication: A phenomenon
surrounding online communication in which a
lack of proximity, visual contact, or nonverbal
cues results in exaggerated perceptions.
illustrators: Body movements that reinforce verbal
messages and visually help explain what is being
said.
imagining: The ability to think, play, and be cre-
ative in communication; one of the five func-
tional communication competencies.
immediacy: The feeling of closeness, involvement,
and warmth between people as communicated
by nonverbal behavior.
impromptu speaking: A style of public speaking that is
spontaneous, without any warning or preparation.
inclusion: To involve others in our lives and to be
involved in the lives of others.
indecency: Discussing or showing sexual or other
bodily functions in a very lewd or vulgar way.
indirect fighting: Conflict style that involves using
passive-aggressive tactics to express conflict with-
out engaging in it openly.
individualist culture: A culture whose members
place value on autonomy and privacy, with
relatively little attention to status and hierarchy
based on age or family connections.
inductive reasoning: The line of thought that oc-
curs when one draws general conclusions based
on specific evidence.
informal–formal dimension: A psychological as-
pect of the situational context of communica-
tion, dealing with our perceptions of personal
versus impersonal situations.informational listening: Processing and accurately
understanding a message; also known as compre-
hensive listening.
information-gathering interview: An interview
that serves to transfer knowledge from one party
to another by collecting attitudes, opinions,
facts, data, and experiences.
information overload: The difficulty in sorting
through and making sense of vast amounts of
information, created by the volume of messages
made available by converging media.
informative speaking: A form of public speaking
intended to increase the audience’s understand-
ing or knowledge.
informing: The use of language to both give and
receive information; one of the five functional
communication competencies.
ingroup: The group with which one identifies and
to which one feels one belongs.
initiating stage: The stage of a relationship in which
one makes contact with another person.
insensitive listening: Listening that occurs when we
fail to pay attention to the emotional content of
someone’s message, instead taking it at face value.
integrating: The process of relational partners “be-
coming one.”
intensification stage: The stage of a relationship in
which relational partners become increasingly
intimate and move their communication toward
more personal self-disclosures.
interaction appearance theory: The argument that
people change their opinion about the attributions
of someone, particularly their physical attractive-
ness, the more they interact with that person.
interaction management: Nonverbal cues used to
manage the impressions and regulate interactions
of communicators in a variety of relationships
and situations.
interaction model: Communication between a
sender and a receiver that incorporates feedback.
interactive strategies: In relationship management,
strategies that allow one to obtain information
by speaking directly with a person rather than
observing or asking others for information about
the person.
intercultural communication: The communication
between people from different cultures who have
different worldviews.2 20_OHA_45766_Gloss_G_1_16.indd G-7 0 OHA 45766 _GlossG 1 _ 16 .indd G- 7 13/10/14 5:40 PM 13 / 10 / 14 5 : 40 PM