Communication - communication between people, during which there is a psychological contact, manifested in the exchange of information, mutual influence, mutual perception, mutual understanding.

Communication is characterized by: content, functions and means.

The content of communication can be different:

information transfer

perception of each other

mutual evaluation partners each other

mutual influence of partners

interaction of partners

activity management, etc.

Communication functions are allocated in accordance with the content of communication.

There are several classifications of communication functions. V.N. Panferov identifies six of them:

communicative (the implementation of the relationship of people at the level of individual, group and social interaction)

informational (information exchange between people)

cognitive (comprehension of values ​​based on imagination and fantasy representations)

emotive (manifestation of the emotional connection of the individual with reality)

conative (management and correction of mutual positions)

creative (development of people and the formation of new relations between them)

And additional:

expressive (mutual understanding of feelings and emotional states)

social control (regulation of behavior and activities)

socialization (the formation of skills of interaction in society in accordance with accepted norms and rules), etc.

Communication suffers if at least one of the listed functions is impaired or missing, therefore, when analyzing real communication processes, it is useful to first diagnose the representation of these functions, and then take measures to correct them.

Communication structure

The concept of “communication” is complex, therefore it is necessary to designate its structure. In the psychological literature, when characterizing the structure of communication, there are usually three of its interrelated aspects: communicative, interactive and perceptual.

Communicative side

The communicative side of communication is the exchange of information between people. The understanding of man by man is connected with the establishment and preservation of communication.

Sources of information in communication:

signals directly from another person;

signals from their own sexor-perceptual systems;

information on the results of the activity;

information from internal experience;

information about the likely future.

Interactive side

For a proper understanding of the process of communication, it is important to imagine the actions of your partner that are carried out in certain situations. The second side of communication is interactive, which consists in the organization of interaction between individuals, i.e. sharing not only knowledge, but also actions.

Perceptual side

The third important side of communication is perceptual. It means the process of perception of each other by the partners in communication and the establishment of mutual understanding on this basis. From the point of view of perception, it is important to correctly form the first impression. Psychologists have found that the image of another person can be built according to different typical schemes. Often, a perceptual pattern of the type of revaluation of people's qualities is used. When we meet with a person who surpasses us in an important partner, we rate him more positively. And if we are dealing with a man whom we transcend, then we underestimate him. It should also be aware that superiority is fixed by one parameter, and underestimation occurs by several parameters. This error in perception has its name - the factor of excellence.