Poor Communication

In the article, Close Relationships Sometimes Mask Poor Communication, I truly understand the "closeness-communication bias". To neglect the perspective of the person because we assume he or she knows us well is how misunderstandings happen. Assumptions, I believe is the killer of interpersonal communication. I agree with the article that closeness between people interferes with the ability to communicate well. Actually, it interference with our ability to know how well we've communicated because we have the "illusion of understanding more than actual understanding"(U.S. News & World Report, 2013). One would think that your significant other would know you better than strangers but shockingly research shows that is not the case. This article makes the reader understand where there is a break-down in communication with couples.

I remember one particular conversation that I had with my sister. We were talking about getting some items at the store. I told her in a Spanish accent buy me "la Mega". She said she would. We she got back she gave me two scratch of ticket and said they did have the one you wanted. I scratched off the ticket and then asked if she got a ticket for the Mega million. She said, "Ohhhhhhhh, that's what you meant. I thought you wanted scratch off tickets. I'm sorry". I could not get upset because I never specified exactly what I wanted, also I did not get clarification from her that she knew what "la Mega" meant. I just assumed that she understood what I meant.

When I realized what had happen, I thought about this class and communication. If I only made sure that the message that I send was received accurately there would have not been any misunderstanding and I would have had my lottery ticket. "Before communicating, the sender must encode the idea that he or she wants to communicate, or put it into some form or code that the other person can understand" (Sole, 2011, Sec 2.2, para 2). Also, to make sure that this kind of miscommunication does not happen in the future, I would make sure that I receive feedback to ensure that my message is clear. Another factor, that I could consider is noise. It was loud when I was speaking to my sister. She may have not been as engaged as I thought. In the past, I have missed important details because I was distracted by noise. Our text discusses that noise disturbs the communication process. Also, my sister lost eye contact with me, when should have indicated to me that she lost focus of the conversation.

Finally, I would not assume that people would automatically understand my codes, especially my sister. In our culture, we call the Mega-millions, "la Mega", and I just assumed that she knew what I meant. In out text Berlo suggests that "words do not have meanings; people create meanings" (Sole, 2011, Sec 2.4, para15). "Senders actively