Communication Transaction Analysis When Considering

Communication Transaction Analysis

When considering communication transactions, there are two dominant perspectives one may approach the transaction from in order to determine the nature of the interaction. In short, the situational perspective categorizes communication transactions according to certain situation-specific variables, while the developmental perspective begins with the assumption that any two people communicating necessarily begin from a position of relative impersonality, interacting on the level of social role rather than as people, and only developing towards an interpersonal communication after certain conditions are met. In order to better understand and explicate these concepts, it will be useful to examine a communication transaction between two characters in the television show Parks and Recreation in order to demonstrate the two perspectives' different understanding of interpersonal communications and how these may be practically applied.

Near the beginning of the Parks and Recreation episode called "The Fight," Leslie Knope, the assistant director of the parks department of a fictional Indiana town, is talking to her best friend Ann Perkins, a nurse at the local hospital. Leslie is extremely excited because she has just secured a job interview for Ann as a part time employee of the public health department, and in typical Leslie fashion she has enthusiastically prepared all public health records and literature that Ann might need to familiarize herself with before the interview, which is scheduled for nine a.m. The following morning. Understandably, Ann is not thrilled by the prospect of an early morning job interview (with the city manager who also happens to be her ex-friend) after an all night public health study session on the heals of a sixteen hour shift at the hospital. Needless to say, this conversation between best friends is not as exciting for Ann as it is for the ecstatic Leslie, who in her defense, is just really excited that the two could soon be working in the same building.

According to the criteria of the situational perspective, Leslie and Ann's conversation is certainly an example of interpersonal communication. The conversation is dyadic, or taking place between two people, and the speakers are in very close proximity to each other, only a few inches away. Since the show is filmed in a documentary or cinema verite style, characters often look at the camera, or even say their lines to the camera for added comedic effect. In this situation, Ann casts many uncomfortable looks at the camera as Leslie unloads all of the study materials, snacks, and energy drinks from the dolly she has loaded-up for Ann's all-night cram session. Ann looks at the camera in order to avoid actually telling Leslie that she is not as excited about the interview as her friend. Keeping the format of the show in mind, it is more complicated to determine whether or not the camera acts as an intermediary in the conversation, but since the camera offers no actual verbal input of its own, we will argue here that there is no intermediary in the conversation. Despite Ann's uncomfortable looks at the camera, she does actually communicate her concerns to Leslie, once she is finally done unloading the litany of study materials from the dolly. Leslie in turn responds to Ann and successfully convinces her to attend the interview after explaining the perks of the new job, that it would be a service to the community, and also that it would be less visually explicit and hands-on than nursing. These exchanges meet the criteria of immediate feedback, and because the two friends are facing each other in person, and even reach out to physically touch at one point, they are experiencing the maximum sensory input through sight, sound, and touch. Again, this conversation qualifies as an example of interpersonal communication from the situational perspective because the conversation involves two characters who are in close, physical proximity, without an intermediary, are giving immediate feedback to each other with the maximum sensory output.