Now in a new edition, Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication provides a comprehensive and engaging introduction to communication in interpersonal relationships. Based on an extensive body of scholarship, interplay cites more than 1,000 sources-30 per cent of which are new to the ninth edition-and provides a variety of thought-provoking photos, sidebars, and cartoons that illustrate key points in the text and connect them to everyday life and popular culture. The ninth edition is updated and revised throughout to help make material more clear and useful to students. It provides new information on how people manage their identities on the Internet, how people interpret language in everyday situations, reasons for defensiveness, the role of physical appearance in relational communication, and how technology and gender affect different types of interaction. In addition, the text expands coverage of emotional expression, and extends its balance treatment of gender influences, self-disclosure, and methods of managing privacy in personal relationships. FEATURES OF THE NINTH EDITION * New-Part IV: Contexts of Interpersonal Communication focuses on some of the most important circumstances that surround human interaction. Dedicated chapters focus on culture (Chapter 12), and work and family (all-new Chapter 13). Each chapter provides context-specific guidelines for communicating effectively. * New-Self-Assessment Instruments in each chapter allow students to analyze their current communication behavior and its consequences. The behaviors discussed include listening styles, expressing emotions, self-disclosure, and ways to handle aggression. * Updated-Film Clips profile recent feature films-including About a Boy (intimacy and self-disclosure), Ghost World (defensiveness), and Life as a House (the role of touch in relationships)-that illustrate communication concepts from the text. * Updated-Focus on Research sidebars highlight scholarship that students will find interesting and useful. New profiles address a diverse array of topics, such as the many interpretations of "flaming" in e-mail messages and expressions of intimacy between fathers and sons. * Updated-The Interplay website: www oup-usa.org/highered/interplay features a wealth of resources on theories, concepts, and skills addressed in the text. The website includes a section titled "Now Playing" that contains reviews of recent films that illustrate communication concepts covered in the text. Other ancillaries include an updated and expanded instructor's manual and a computerized test bank. Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication, 9/e is ideal for freshman and sophomore courses in communication, speech communication, and interpersonal communication.

Table of Contents:
Each chapter ends with activities and a summary; Preface; PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; CHAPTER ONE: INTERPERSONAL PROCESS; WHY WE COMMUNICATE; Physical Needs; Identity Needs; Social Needs; Practical Needs; THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS; A Model of Communication; Insights from the Communication Model; Communication Principles; Communication Misconceptions; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION DEFINED; Quantitative and Qualitative Definitions; Personal and Impersonal Communication: A Matter of Balance; Interpersonal Communication and Technology; COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE; Communication Competence Defined; Characteristics of Competent Communication; CHAPTER TWO: COMMUNICATION AND THE SELF; COMMUNICATION AND THE SELF-CONCEPT; How the Self-Concept Develops; Characteristics of the Self-Concept; Changing Your Self-Concept; PRESENTING THE SELF: COMMUNICATION AS IDENTITY MANAGEMENT; Public and Private Selves; Characteristics of Identity Management; Why Manage Impressions?; How Do We Manage Impressions?; Identity Management and Honesty; CHAPTER THREE: PERCEIVING OTHERS; THE PERCEPTION PROCESS; Selection; Organization; Interpretation; Negotiation; INFLUENCES ON PERCEPTION; Physiological Influences; Psychological Influences; Social Influences; Cultural Influences; COMMON TENDENCIES IN PERCEPTION; We Judge Ourselves More Charitably Than We Do Others; We are Influenced by Our Expectations; We are Influenced by the Obvious; We Cling to First Impressions; We Assume Others are Like Us; We Favor Negative Impressions; PERCEIVING OTHERS MORE ACCURATELY; Perception Checking; Building Empathy; PART TWO: CREATING AND RESPONDING TO MESSAGES; CHAPTER FOUR: LANGUAGE; THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE; Language is Symbolic; Language is Rule-Governed; Language is Subjective; THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE; Naming and Identity; Credibility and Status; Affiliation, Attraction, and Interest; Power; Sexism and Racism; USES (AND ABUSES) OF LANGUAGE; Precision and Vagueness; The Language of Responsibility; Disruptive Language; MALE AND FEMALE LANGUAGE USE; Content; Reasons for Communicating; Conversational Style; Non-Sex Variables; CHAPTER FIVE: NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION; NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION; NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION DEFINED; CHARACTERISTICS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION; All Behavior has Communicative Value; Nonverbal Communication is Primarily Relational; Nonverbal Communication is Ambiguous; Nonverbal Communication is Influenced by Culture; FUNCTIONS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION; Repeating; Substituting; Complementing and Accenting; Regulating; Contradicting; Deceiving; TYPES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION; Face and Eyes; Body Movement; Touch; Voice; Proxemics and Territoriality; Time; Physical Attractiveness; Clothing; Physical Environment; CHAPTER SIX: LISTENING; THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING; REASONS FOR LISTENING; THE CHALLENGE OF LISTENING; Hearing is not Listening; Listening is not Easy; All Listeners do not Receive the Same Message; Poor Listening Habits; COMPONENTS OF LISTENING; Hearing; Attending; Understanding; Remembering; Responding; TYPES OF LISTENING RESPONSES; Silent Listening; Questioning; Paraphrasing; Empathizing; Supporting; Analyzing; Evaluating; Advising; Which Style to Use?; CHAPTER SEVEN: EMOTIONS; WHAT ARE EMOTIONS?; Physiological Changes; Nonverbal Reactions; Cognitive Interpretations; Verbal Expression; TYPES OF EMOTIONS; First-Order and Second-Order Emotions; Primary and Mixed Emotions; Intense and Mild Emotions; INFLUENCES ON EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION; Personality; Culture; Biological Sex and Gender; Social Conventions; Social Roles; Fear of Self-Disclosure; Emotional Contagion; GUIDELINES FOR EXPRESSING EMOTIONS; Recognize your Feelings; Choose the Best Language; Share Multiple Feelings; Recognize the Difference Between Feeling and Acting; Accept Responsibility for Your Feelings; Choose the Best Time and Place to Express Your Feelings; MANAGING DIFFICULT EMOTIONS; Facilitative and Debilitative Emotions; Thoughts Cause Feelings; Irrational Thinking and Debilitative Emotions; Minimizing Debilitative Emotions; PART THREE: DIMENSIONS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS; CHAPTER EIGHT: DYNAMICS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS; WHY WE FORM RELATIONSHIPS; Appearance; Similarity; Complementarity; Rewards; Competency; Proximity; Disclosure; COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONAL DYNAMICS; Developmental Models of Interpersonal Relationships; Dialectical Perspectives On Relational Dynamics; Characteristics of Relational Development; COMMUNICATING ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS; Content and Relational Messages; Expression of Relational Messages; COMPLIANCE GAINING IN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS; Types of Compliance-Gaining Strategies; Which Strategy to Choose?; CHAPTER NINE: INTIMACY AND DISTANCE IN RELATIONSHIPS; INTIMACY AND DISTANCE: STRIKING A BALANCE; Dimensions of Intimacy; Dimensions of Distance; The Dialectics of Intimacy and Distance; INFLUENCES ON INTIMACY AND DISTANCE; Male and Female Intimacy Styles; Cultural Influences on Intimacy; SELF-DISCLOSURE IN RELATIONSHIPS; A Definition of Self-Disclosure; Degrees of Self-Disclosure; A Model of Self-Disclosure; Risks and Benefits of Self-Disclosure; ALTERNATIVES TO SELF-DISCLOSURE; Lying; Equivocation; Hinting; The Ethics of Evasion; GUIDELINES FOR SELF-DISCLOSURE; Is the Other Person Important to You?; Is the Risk of Disclosing Reasonable?; Is the Self-Disclosure Appropriate?; Is the Disclosure Relevant to the Situation at Hand?; Is the Disclosure Reciprocated?; Will the Effect be Constructive?; Is the Self-Disclosure Clear and Understandable?; CHAPTER TEN: COMMUNICATION CLIMATE; WHAT IS COMMUNICATION CLIMATE?; HOW COMMUNICATION CLIMATES DEVELOP; Levels of Message Confirmation; Defensiveness; Climate Patterns; CREATING POSITIVE CLIMATES; Evaluation versus Description; Control versus Problem Orientation; Strategy versus Spontaneity; Neutrality versus Empathy; Superiority versus Equality; Certainty versus Provisionalism; TRANSFORMING NEGATIVE CLIMATES; Seek more Information; Agree with the Critic; CHAPTER ELEVEN: MANAGING CONFLICT; WHAT IS CONFLICT?; Expressed Struggle; Perceived Incompatible Goals; Perceived Scarce Rewards; Interdependence; Inevitability; FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICTS; Integration versus Polarization; Cooperation versus Opposition; Confirmation versus Disconfirmation; Agreement versus Coercion; De-escalation versus Escalation; Focusing versus Drifting; Foresight versus Shortsightedness; Positive versus Negative Results; INDIVIDUAL CONFLICT STYLES; Nonassertion; Indirect Communication; Passive Aggression; Direct Aggression; Assertion; Which Style to Use?; CONFLICT IN RELATIONAL SYSTEMS; Complementary, Symmetrical, and Parallel Styles; Intimate and Aggressive Styles; Conflict Rituals; VARIABLES IN CONFLICT STYLES; Biological Sex and Gender; Culture; METHODS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION; Win-Lose; Lose-Lose; Compromise; Win-Win; NEW-PART FOUR: CONTEXTS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS; CHAPTER TWELVE: CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION; FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS; Culture; Intercultural Communication; Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication; CULTURAL VALUES AND NORMS; High- versus Low-Context; Individualism versus Collectivism; Power Distance; Uncertainty Avoidance; Achievement versus Nurturing; CODES AND CULTURE; Verbal Codes; Nonverbal Codes; Decoding Messages; DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE; Motivation and Attitude; Tolerance for Ambiguity; Open-mindedness; Knowledge and Skill; CHAPTER THIRTEEN: COMMUNICATING WITH FAMILY AND AT WORK; COMMUNICATION IN FAMILIES; Types of Family Communication; Elements of Family Communication; Effective Communication in Families; RELATIONSHIPS AT WORK; Communicating in Organizations; Relationships in Work Groups; Interviewing; Glossary; References; Name Index; Subject Index; Credits