Richard West University of Southern Maine Lynn H. Turner Marquette University

1. Introducing Communication TheoryAnalysis and Application Third Edition Richard West University of Southern Maine Lynn H. Turner Marquette University

2. Coordinated Management of Meaning Chapter 6 based on the research of W. Barnett Pearce & Vernon Cronen Chapter Summary • All the World’s a Stage • Assumptions of CMM • The Hierarchy of Organized Meaning • The Coordination of Meaning • Influences on the Coordination Process • Rules and Unwanted Repetitive Patterns • Charmed and Strange Loops • Critique

3. All the World’s a Stage Life experiences are "undirected theater" • Conversational flow is a theater production • Interactants direct their own dramas • Producing meaning is equivalent to communicating • Actors who communicate effectively attain conversational flow, otherwise they coordinate their meaning

4. Theory at a Glance • People co-create meaning through messages sent and received • Rules guide communication • CMM focuses on the relationship between the individual and society • People organize the meanings of hundreds of messages daily

5. Assumptions of CMM • People live in communication • People co-create a social reality • Information transactions depend on personal and interpersonal meaning

6. The Hierarchy of Organized Meaning CMM theorists propose levels of meaning: • Content • Speech Acts • Contract (Relationship) • Episodes • Life Scripts • Cultural Patterns

7. The Hierarchy of Organized Meaning Figure 6.1: Hierarchy of Meaning

8. The Coordination of Meaning Coordination is making sense of message sequencing. Possible communication outcomes: • Coordination • No coordination • Some degree of coordination

9. Influences on the Coordination Process • Coordination requires individuals to be concerned with a higher moral order • Coordination can be influenced by the resources available to an individual

10. Rules Rules are descriptions of how people process information and provide opportunities to choose alternatives. • Individuals manage and coordinate through the use of rules

11. Types of Rules • Constitutive rules • Regulative rules

12. Unwanted Repetitive Patterns Unwanted repetitive patterns are recurring undesirable conflicts in a relationship. • Arise from rigid rule systems

13. Charmed and Strange Loops • A loop is the reflexiveness of levels in the hierarchy of meaning. • Types of loops: • Charmed loops • Strange loops

14. Charmed and Strange Loops Figure 6.2: Charmed Loop Figure 6.3: Strange Loop

15. Charmed and Strange Loops • Charmed Loops • Rules of meaning are consistent • Occur when one part of the hierarchy conforms and supports another • Each level remains logically consistent • Strange Loops • Rules of meaning change • Process can lead to a vicious cycle

16. Example of a Strange Loop Figure 6.4: Example of a Strange Loop

17. Critical Strengths of CMMT • Heuristic • Theory is used in research of many different contexts and phenomena • Practical utility • Application to everyday conversations

18. Criticisms of CMMT • Scope • May be too broad (Brenders, 1987; Poole, 1983) • Theory has evolved to define parameters and clarify ideas better (Barge & Pearce, 2004) • Not parsimonious • More attention to this theory may be warranted (Barge & Pearce, 2004)