Engaging Theories in Interpersonal Communication: Multiple Perspectives

Winner of the 2017 NCA Gerald R. Miller Book Award!

Use and Understand Interpersonal Communication Theories

Engaging Theories in Interpersonal Communication: Multiple Perspectives highlights key theories used to guide interpersonal communication research. The Second Edition features 30 theory chapters written by leading scholars in interpersonal communication, including new coverage of evolutionary theories, Problematic Integration Theory, supportive communication theories, Theory of Motivated Information Management, critical approaches to interpersonal communication, and Media Multiplexity Theory. Each theory chapter follows the same structure to help readers easily find and compare information across theories. An updated introductory chapter maps the history and the current state of interpersonal communication theory since publication of the first edition, based on comprehensive analysis of published scholarship.  Presenting both classic and cutting-edge issues, the book organizes theories into three clusters―theories that are individually-centered; theories that are focused on discourse and interaction processes; and theories that examine how communication functions in personal relationships. All authors interweave abstract theoretical concepts with concrete examples in order to maximize readability and comprehension.

Dawn O. Braithwaite (Ph.D. University of Minnesota) is a Willa Cather Professor of Communication, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She studies discourse dependent families, dialectics of relating, and communication rituals in step- and voluntary families. She has published six authored and co-edited books, including Engaging Theories in Interpersonal Communication (2nd ed.), Family Communication: Cohesion and Change (10^th ed.) and over 125 articles and chapters.

 

Dr. Braithwaite was named a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association and the Western States Communication Association. She received NCA’s Brommel Award for Family Communication, and the Samuel Becker Distinguished Service Award, She received the Distinguised Service award for WSCA and is a Past President. Dr. Braithwaite is a Past President of the National Communication Association.

Paul Schrodt (Ph.D., University of Nebraska – Lincoln; M.A., University of North Texas; B.A., University of Texas at Arlington) is the Philip J. & Cheryl C. Burguières Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas Christian University. He is nationally recognized as one of the leading scholars in interpersonal and family communication. He is currently a member of the Publications Board of the National Communication Association (NCA), as well as a past chair of the Family Communication Division of NCA. He is the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards, including the 2012 NCA Brommel Award for Family Communication, the 2011 Early Career Award from NCA’s Interpersonal Communication Division, the 2006 Outstanding New Teacher Award from the Central States Communication Association, the 2005 Sandra Petronio Dissertation Excellence Award, and more than 35 Top Paper Awards from national and regional associations. He has published more than 80 journal articles and book chapters, and he currently sits on the editorial journal boards for Communication Monographs, Communication Education, and the Journal of Family Communication.