Problematic integration theory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:36, 4 October 2012

Revision as of 03:45, 17 October 2012

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Communication is both a source of, a medium, and a method for resolving conflict.<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. 286.</ref> Communication is a source of problematic integration in that knowledge and evaluative orientations are the result of communication, probabilistic and evaluative orientations are based on and developed through message and meaning making (forms of communication), and communication is itself "an object of thought" and is therefore an object "of probabilistic and evaluative orientations."<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. 286-7.</ref> It is also possible that a person experiencing problematic integration will seek new information or new sources of information to bolster or reinforce a desired probabilistic or evaluative orientation. This could also be seen engaging in as a form of [[cognitive dissonance]]. Communication is seen as a medium of problematic integration because communication inherently involves or is based on probabilistic and evaluative orientations, or communication is about probability and value. Communication is influenced by and formed from culture; thus, communication is a medium of PI, as and the formation of probabilistic and evaluative orientations derives from cultural frameworks. Lastly, communication is a resource for PI as we try to resolve and manage conflict caused by problematic integration through communication (internal, interpersonal, etc.).<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. 286.</ref>

Because communication may be a source, medium, and/or method for resolving problematic integration, it is possible for conflict to manifest as "extended chains" of problematic integration. Such extended chains occur through forms, foci, and layers of experience.<ref>Bradac, James J.; “Theory Comparison: Uncertainty Reduction, Problematic Integration, Uncertainty Management, and Other Curious Constructs”, ''Journal of Communication'', September 2001, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 461-2.</ref> By extended chains, it is meant that experiences of problematic integration and efforts to resolve problematic integration may lead to development of a new form of PI. As conflict between probability and value develops around a focal point (or topic), it can lead to conflict regarding a new topic (e.g., stress and anxiety about earning an end-of-year bonus at work can lead to new worries about personal finances, sense of self -worth, and/or one's status and career prospects at work). Problematic integration becomes shared (or chained) through layers of experience when people discuss and relate their struggles with others. In this process of communicating our conflicts, others may share in our problematic integration through empathy and sympathy.<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. 287</ref> Babrow proposed that communication becomes more important to resolve problematic integration as the conflict or integration becomes more difficult.<ref>Bradac, James J.; “Theory Comparison: Uncertainty Reduction, Problematic Integration, Uncertainty Management, and Other Curious Constructs”, ''Journal of Communication'', September 2001, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 463.</ref>

====Critique and Analysis====

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====Related Work: Uncertainty Management Theory====

Babrow's theory shares some common ideas with Uncertainty Management Theory (UMT), which was developed by Dale Brashers (2007, A theory of communication and uncertainty management. In B. Whaley & W. Samter (Eds.), Explaining communication theory (pp. 201-218&nbsp;201–218). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum). For a comparison of the perspectives, see Bradac (2001).<ref>Bradac, James J.; “Theory Comparison: Uncertainty Reduction, Problematic Integration, Uncertainty Management, and Other Curious Constructs”, ''Journal of Communication'', September 2001, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 463-4.</ref>

== Current Usage ==