9 Chapter

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9 Chapter 1 h a p t e rC 1 Skill in theory: Communication as skilled performance Owen Hargie INTRODUCTION AN Y A N A LY S I S O F I N T E R P E R S O N A L communication is inevita- bly fraught with difficulties. The interpersonal process is complex, ever-changing, and directly affected by a large number of intermeshing factors. This means that in order to make sense of, and systematically investigate, social encounters, some form of interpretive framework is usually employed. In fact, numerous alternative frameworks have been developed for this purpose. For example, interpersonal encounters have been conceptualised, inter alia, as: • a form of joint economic activity or social exchange in which both sides seek rewards and try to minimise costs, which may be in the form of money, services, goods, status, esteem, or affection ( Mitchell, Cropanzano, & Quisenberry, 2012); • transactional episodes during which interlocutors play roles akin to acting as either parent, adult, or child, and respond at one of these three levels (Bright, 2015); • a type of dramatic performance composed of major scenes, in which everyone has a role to play and lines to deliver, some have more prominent role...