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Impulsivemk (talk | contribs) m Changed Grammar to capitalized letters, according to Littlejohn et. al. |
Impulsivemk (talk | contribs) Clarified the four forms of the theory more concisely. |
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Babrow identified four distinct manifestations, or forms, of problematic integration:
# Divergence - occurs when there is a difference between reality and our desired outcome, and refers to a situation in which the outcome is uncertain or unknown
# Ambiguity - occurs when it is unclear or highly uncertain what the probability or value of an object is uncertain. Babrow stated that in such situations, the outcome is unknown, and the probability of the outcome is restricted.
# Ambivalence - occurs when an individual has to choose between two similarly valued or mutually exclusive alternatives.
# Impossibility - has a firm outcome. A response of denial can occur, and this can lead to conflict.
The first of these integrative predicaments, divergence, arises when there is a discrepancy between what we believe to be true or to be likely to occur and what we want to be true (the desired outcome). Ambiguity arises when the probability or value of an object (i.e., situation, outcome, thing, etc.) is unclear or highly uncertain. Babrow explained, that “in ambiguous situations, neither the outcome, nor the probability of the outcome is known, though the latter has restrictions” (Babrow, 1992, p. 112). Uncertainty occurs when an unknown factor obscures or complicates the development of one's orientation (probability and evaluation) toward an outcome. Ambiguity has also been described as uncertainty about what is unknown. Ambivalence is borne from one of two conditions: (1) an individual is forced to choose between two similarly valued alternatives; or (2) an individual is forced to choose between mutually exclusive alternatives. The last form of PI, impossibility, occurs upon the realization or belief that an outcome is will not happen. Impossibility is recognized as different from a form of divergence, because only impossibility denotes a sense of certainty.<ref>Babrow, Austin S.; “Communication and Problematic Integration: Milan Kundera’s “Lost Letters” in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting”, Communication Monographs, 1995, Vol. 62, pp. 285-6.</ref> Responses to impossibility can range from a sense of futility, to one of increased motivation to deny the impossibility. All of these situations give rise to conflict.
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