Interactions in the workplace are the typical expectations for conversations between individuals in various roles within a business or company. I have chosen this type of interaction because it involves face-to-face engagement; therefore, it is more productive than printed or audio-only exchanges. As such, during work operations, staff would recognize nonverbal clues and body movements when they gaze at one another. Furthermore, due to diversity in my workplace, I can share and acquire a different cultural understanding of my colleagues.
Definition of Concepts and Theories
Social Construction Theory
Social constructionism is a concept of understanding that investigates how people attain enlightenment and comprehend the world. There is no one description of the hypothesis or the sociologists’ theories in the domain. Nevertheless, Gawish (2020) enumerates that social constructionists embrace certain views and behaviors. According to constructionist interpretations of language, this is the case for workplace connection, which holds that dialects form to ease the interaction between individuals.
Systems Theory
Systems theory examines community as a sophisticated network of things, encompassing persons and their ideologies. It is a radical departure from observational principles and behavioral standards orientations to communication. Ruben (2018) claimed that interconnection should be studied to comprehend the world. As such, work relationships dialogues caution about rising temperatures teach people that all of their activities affect each other and the ecosystem, and they must be conscious of what they do, or they will keep ruining all that is on earth.
Social Exchange Theory
According to the interaction concept of social exchange, humans engage with the anticipation of receiving equivalent engagement in return. For instance, in a workplace surrounding, when a person reaches out to another person at a professional conference, they may think that the other person will reply with the same level of eagerness. Additionally, if employees believe that the advantages of working overtime surpass the limitations, they will labor more to earn extra cash (Stafford & Kuiper, 2021). However, they will likely reject the proposal if the disadvantages exceed the benefits.
Social Penetration Theory
Social penetration alludes to the public relationship quality that emerges from social engagement and the internal psychological process that occurs before, during, and following the meeting. When people interact verbally, non-verbally, or through their surroundings, they initiate a sequence of behaviors that aid in forming social relationships (Mangus et al., 2020). As individuals engage in work conversation, a range of internal behaviors occur that lead to the formation of personal observations of others.
Similarities and Differences Between Concepts and Theories
Similarities
Implementing these principles on practical grounds can foster the accomplishment of human aspirations. The primary objectives of these concepts are the administration of human cognition and convincing humans of the necessity and value of understanding the personality traits of others (Wright & Webb, 2011). Many ideas attempt to create a reciprocal status across all relationships, including workplace interactions. Furthermore, these approaches guided by the social penetration hypothesis are highly efficient in trying to comprehend the surrounding population. A positive attitude must be contributed to the observations of one-on-one interactions during this process.
Differences
Depending on the concept offered by the hypotheses, social construction theories attribute numerous societal concepts, such as sexual identity, to how individuals interact. In contrast, systems theory views these ideas as arising from discrete factors, much like a complex machine. On the other hand, the principles of regulating social exchange theory are concerned with components of social psychology in which societal viewpoints are developed to advance interpersonal transformation. Social penetration is the notion that the persuasive power of gestures and facial expressions is directly proportional to the influence of spoken information sharing. Moreover, according to their respective definitions, social construction analyzes how people acquire awareness and perceive the world, whereas systems theory explores civilization as a complicated web of objects that includes individuals and their beliefs (Wright & Webb, 2011). Social exchange theory, on the contrary, examines how people interact with the expectation of getting comparable involvement in return, whereas social penetration refers to the societal relationship quality that emanates from socializing.
Why the Concepts and Theories Apply to Workplace Relationship
The precise demands for relationships among people at various levels within a firm or corporation are known as workplace interactions. This structure is modified by time, location, prior knowledge, individuals, and their interconnections. As a result, incorporating social constructionist knowledge into language study is motivated by the idea that conversation is a procedure of meaning-making. While social constructionism seeks to establish how individuals build meaning and understanding about life’s facts, workplace connection comes into play through socializing, as interpersonal interaction’s fundamental fiber is an eco-communication mechanism.
When used in conversation, the systems theory tries to comprehend the interdependence of interpersonal language rather than focusing on a single aspect. Corporate engagement is a subfield of workplace discourse analysis that heavily uses systems theory. Researchers in this field are concerned with the interactions between individuals to determine how they construct what is often known as corporations. For instance, what distinguishes Walmart from Target is not just their pricing or commodities. Rather, each of these two megastores has a unique personality and mode of operation distinct from the other.
The worker and the job connection show social exchange theory most prominently. When an individual receives incentives from their company, such as an optimal workplace atmosphere, suitable input, and good pay, they often perform at their highest level. Finally, according to the social penetration paradigm, as interactions occur, conversation shifts from relatively superficial, non-intimate degrees to richer, more individual basis. The more time two individuals spend together, for instance, at work, the more inclined they are to reveal their most private thoughts.
How These Concepts and Theories Inform My Understanding of Workplace Relationship
The social exchange hypothesis can assist caseworkers in motivating clients to engage in constructive conduct and job relationships. This notion will assist my communication in social work relationships by recognizing that everyone seeks a benefit from connections. In addition, social construction theory lists the sociological, historical, and institutional ramifications of the knowledge developed in a community (Gawish, 2020). Consequently, in workplace connections, I would be able to converse with personnel and embrace and uphold their views of specific beliefs, norms, and facts. System theory would be beneficial in comprehending things like strategic restructuring, management effectiveness, and group dynamics communication. Finally, for the benefit of the business, the social penetration concept would enable me to strengthen my partnerships by shifting from simplistic to candid conversation.
How These Concepts and Theories Inform My Understanding of Romantic Relationships
As per the social penetration hypothesis, individuals progress from shallow to deep dialogues when trust is established via recurrent effective interaction. Consequently, this notion has empowered me to engage in romantic conversations through self-disclosure of knowledge, emotions, or sentiments I share with my spouse they would not otherwise discover. In addition, understanding the social exchange paradigm enables me to articulate and comprehend the true costs and advantages, preventing me from succumbing to partnerships in which one individual or institution reaps the overwhelming rewards while others bear the costs. On the other hand, social construction theory would empower me to interact in a romantic conversation, as it is through sharing emotions that individuals form their social worlds and interpretations. Lastly, systems theory would enable me to communicate effectively with my partner in an intimate connection.
References
Gawish, K. S. (2020). Social construction of communication technologies. Egyptian Journal of Public Opinion Research, 19(3), 379-424. Web.
Mangus, S. M., Bock, D. E., Jones, E., & Folse, J. A. G. (2020). Examining the effects of mutual information sharing and relationship empathy: A social penetration theory perspective. Journal of Business Research, 109, 375-384. Web.
Ruben, B. D. (2018). General system theory. In Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human Communication (pp. 95-118). Routledge.
Stafford, L., & Kuiper, K. (2021). Social exchange theories: Calculating the rewards and costs of personal relationships. In Engaging theories in interpersonal communication (pp. 379-390). Routledge.
Wright, K. B., & Webb, L. M. (Eds.). (2011). Computer-mediated communication in personal relationships. Peter Lang.