Chapter 3 (The Communicator)

Chapter 3 begins by providing information about the five major groups of theories. These five groups are the biophysiological, cognitive and information processing, communication competence, theories of identity and theories of agency.

For instance, biophysiological theories were one of the groups that caught my attention. This theory group tracks the specific aspects of human behavior such as traits. Traits are attributes to a person that are first developed in the communication discipline and helps create personality. On the contrary, the trait approach/theory allows people to understand the differences between people who are argumentative in communication or those who have communication apprehension, like me.


Another theory group that I allowed myself to dive more in-depth to was the competence theory. Competence theories tend to explain why and how people behave with the interaction between others. I find this fascinating to think about because after reading, I began to listen more closely and were observant of my friends who came down to visit for the weekend, my roommate, and co-workers. I became observant of them just to see if I could understand how they made everyday situations as a stage to sell themselves, see how they negotiate,either  mindfuly or not, and how
they shape their identity.


Overall, Chapter 3 made me do a lot of thinking about those who I surround myself with and how I can improve on traits that I already portray.

References: Littlejohn, S. W., Foss, K. A., & Oetzel, J. G. (2017). Theories of Human Communication.