Processes of human interaction: concept, forms, levels

The article explains:

1. Concept of people interaction
2. What are human interaction processes based on?
3. 6 levels of social interaction
4. Forms of social interaction
5. 10 Ways to Improve Your Personal People Skills

Since childhood, each of us has been part of different social groups (family, friends, etc.). As we grow up, we leave some, while others, on the contrary, we enter.

In each of the groups we regularly interact with other participants. In them, a person acquires social skills that help strengthen his status. Moreover, the relationships themselves can be both direct and indirect.

Let's talk more about these processes of interaction between people, as well as how social capital helps to obtain real benefits.

Concept of people interaction

Interaction is understood as the process of objects influencing each other with the subsequent formation of a connection and mutual conditionality between them. This influence can be direct or indirect.

An important feature of the process of human interaction is its causality. That is, objects and structures develop under the influence of each other, this determines the reasons for their direct actions and reverse reactions.

The contradictions that arise during interaction become the impetus for independent movement and development of processes.

People in the process of interaction are considered as independent subjects, each of whom is endowed with their own inner world. That is, in essence, there is an interaction between these worlds, the intersection of ideas, images, thoughts, followed by making assessments for other individuals, identifying their needs, and influencing them on an emotional level.

In addition, social psychology also views interaction as a tool for organizing joint group activities of people (and not just as a way to influence each other). Then interaction is a calibrated sequence of constant actions performed specifically in order to force the participants of the opposite side to react.

Manifestations of activity or passivity of communication participants have more strict forms and are complemented by a number of restrictions when it comes to living together or working together (compared to individual communication). Here we have to build parallels and disperse efforts between the concepts of “I” and “He”, “We” and “They”. At the same time, people form more accurate evaluative ideas not only about others, but also about themselves. Thus, interaction processes help in establishing adequate self-esteem and teach the ability to behave in society.

Types, types, styles

Interaction in psychology is the interactive action of individuals in a social environment, which is determined by many forms, types and styles. Social interaction is called interaction.

This concept refers to those actions of individuals that closely influence the actions and actions of others. Interactive interaction comes in various forms.

In modern psychology, the classification of P.A. is most often used to classify the types, types and styles of social cooperation. Sorokin, an American social psychologist of Russian origin.

He considered interaction as an exchange and classified it into the following types:

Russian psychologist S. Bratchenko added this classification with three more styles:

• Altruistic – actions for others to the detriment of oneself, development of a partner at one’s own expense. Such interaction implies that one of the participants ignores their problems.
• Comfortable - the individual fully joins the opinions of other participants, agreeing with all actions. In this situation, there are no opportunities for self-development.
• Indifferent – ​​the position of a pragmatist, in which psychological problems of communication are ignored. There is no opportunity for partner development.

The following types of interaction are distinguished, depending on the way the contact of external properties is carried out:

• declarative (verbal);
• physical;
• sensorimotor (gesture).

The interaction of an internal property is mental.

All types have common properties - meaningful orientation towards another person and motivation.

A common division in psychology is into two main opposing types: cooperation and competition.

• Cooperation is mutual cooperation based on reaching a mutual agreement on the means to achieve a goal, which is not violated until the desired result is achieved.
• Competition is the interaction of personal or collective interests in conditions of confrontation between the parties.

What are human interaction processes based on?

The basis of the processes of interaction between people in society is communication. It is formed on the basis of reflex neural reactions (using mirror neurons). You cannot, for example, prepare for a performance and not think about how the listener or viewer will perceive you.

Interpersonal interaction is understood as the mutual desire of participants for joint cooperation. Communication will not work if one person has unfavorable thoughts towards the other party and does not consider compromises acceptable.

What processes are interpersonal communication based on? In essence, this is always an exchange of some symbolism, signs. Any transaction requires the presence of two participants, the one who started the communication and its addressee. The first process is the sending of characters by the initiator, and the second is the receipt of information by the addressee.

And here it is very important that there are no barriers to communication, otherwise the messages will not be able to be correctly deciphered. In addition, it is of great importance that the parties belong to the same social class and the presence of common cultural points of contact. It is extremely difficult to transfer information between different cultural layers.

Characteristics and principles

Awareness of the laws of relationships helps self-development and successful achievement of goals.

Any social action has the following basic characteristics:

• Always has an external reason or purpose.
• Expressed and accessible to observation from the outside.
• Tied to a specific situation.
• Expresses the immediate intentions of all participants.

Interaction in society, the success of a collective or individual enterprise - these topics are always relevant for sociologists. Many experts in the field of psychology and sociology are working on the principles of productive cooperation. Psychosocial theorist Milton Erickson insisted on the close interconnection of an individual's physiological, mental, and social actions.

Its basic principles are as follows:

• All people are unique and have the right to be themselves. To create an atmosphere of trust, it is necessary to accept a person with all his views and beliefs. The realization that everyone is individual in nature leads to awareness of their individuality and inner comfort.
• Everyone has their own internal resources to achieve a personal goal. Their implementation depends on the strength of desire. When starting cooperation with a person with similar goals, you do not need to initially judge his capabilities; the main thing is to find the right general strategy.
• Each choice of a person in a given situation is the only correct and necessary one under the influence of external circumstances. Therefore, you should not worry about past failures; it is better to concentrate on the current moment.
• Any negative action should be looked at from the perspective of the person who committed it. Behind all actions, even bad ones, there is an initial intention of positive action towards oneself or another person. This suggests that there are no completely negative people. There are those who try to achieve their positive intentions in a way that negatively affects others. If you look at the situation from his side, you may be able to direct your partner or competitor in the right direction.
• Nothing stays the same. New experiences, new technologies, new environments lead to constant changes. The system of values ​​within a person also changes with age and under the influence of new knowledge. Changing goals and ways to achieve them is not a tragedy, but only a new step along the way.

Forms of social interaction

For man as a social being, communication is vital. Even a writer who has secluded himself from everyone (in search of inspiration for writing a book) can still be considered an example of the process of interaction between people, because this implies communication between the author and future readers.

The following forms of communication exist:

• Friendship. It implies a fairly close interaction between psychologically close people. Both experience joy and pleasure.
• Love. Very close interaction of an intimate nature. Gives impetus to mutual personal growth.
• Communication between students in a group or in some circles.
• Interaction between employees of the work team.
• Intersection and communication in psychological support groups.

Psychology distinguishes the processes of interaction between people into official and informal, business and interpersonal. In general, building relationships is a rather complex process that requires a subtle approach. Many factors influence this, and the main thing you need to be able to do is establish social contacts.

Establishing good interpersonal communication in a group is not very easy. What is needed here is a person with strong leadership qualities who will be able to smooth out rough edges and set the team up for work correctly. Without this, the group may simply fall apart.

In business circles there are also people who easily establish friendly relationships with others. Such individuals, as a rule, are distinguished by developed emotional intelligence and have good communication skills. Social leadership is inherent in them by nature, and they make excellent managers (if certain qualities are purposefully developed).

Functions and role

Interaction in psychology is a multifunctional process that is determined by various criteria. Most often, the role of interaction is considered in the model: individual – activity – society.

The most important functions of interpersonal communication are:

• Pragmatic - manifests itself as the most important condition in uniting individuals to jointly perform common work.
• Formative – is implemented in the process of forming a person’s personality.
• function is carried out in the process of cognition and approval of personal attitudes during interaction with other people.
• Interpersonal – has different levels, from the sphere of friendship and love to business relationships.
• Intrapersonal - manifests itself in the individual’s communication with his inner self, in the construction of dialogues of internal and external speech.

Management methods

Interaction management is possible with the help of various trainings and psychological exercises. Their goal is to remove internal barriers and develop communication skills.

Many teams of trainers are working on creating special exercises. Exercises teach you how to manage the flow of a conversation and how to introduce yourself. Below are some examples of exercises that are used in interaction management training.

Exercises from the training:

"Tell about…"

This exercise is used for deeper personal disclosure and for getting to know each other.

Conducted in a group. Each of the training participants chooses any personal item and characterizes himself on behalf of this item. Other objects may ask him questions about its owner.

"In other words"

During this lesson, speech flexibility is trained, the ability to convey the same thought in your own words.

All participants in the game are divided into teams of 4 people. The goal of the game: to convey a simple phrase given by the presenter in a chain, without changing its meaning, but without using a single word in its exact form. Ultimately, 4 new phrases should be formed, exact in meaning, but from different words. The team that completes this task faster wins.

Exercises from Klaus Vopel:

"Who reminds whom"

It often happens that it is difficult for a new group to communicate with someone due to the fact that the person, in some way, resembles an already familiar person from a close circle. Subconsciously, the attitude towards him develops according to the evoked association. The exercise is carried out at the beginning of acquaintance with a member of the group.

Each participant is given 3 minutes to identify a person similar to someone significant to him. This person needs to be given a card on which to indicate who he resembles and the main features of a significant person. During the discussion, a closer acquaintance occurs, coincidences and discrepancies between the real and the represented are revealed.

"Self-disclosure"

Interaction in a group also depends on how individual members are able to reveal themselves in the group. During the training, everyone independently assesses their ability to open up. The results obtained are discussed and compared with the opinions of other group members about this individual.

In psychology and sociology, the science of interaction plays a large role. Effective communication is the basis of various areas of human life, from personal relationships to interactions for career growth.

Psychological theories and schools

Various psychological schools present their theories of relationship development.

The main ones accepted in common practice are:

The following theories are also widespread:

• symbolic interactionism (J. Mead, G. Bloomer);

• theory of motivation (A. Maslow);
• theory of impression management (E. Goffman);
• interaction registration scheme (R. Bales).

What can provoke conflict in a team?

It is not for nothing that group psychology is considered one of the most difficult sections of psychology, because misunderstanding can always arise between people.

A conflict in a team can happen if one of the employees:

• has an unsociable character, does not want to contact others;
• complains or reports colleagues to management;
• doubts the professional competencies of another person;
• gossips;
• does not know how to hide a bad mood;
• straightforward;
• afraid of being overworked at work;
• overly confident that he is right;
• does not accept constructive criticism;
• compares the previous place of work with the current one;
• curious;
• speaks (on the phone or in the office) in a raised voice;
• wears a specific perfume;
• strives to do his job efficiently (which may be perceived by colleagues as a desire to stand out, separate himself from the team, or curry favor with management).

The above situations and problems can occur in any team, but they can be prevented using psychological methods. Having mastered our distance course in organizational psychology, you will be able to create a harmonious business atmosphere in your team, control the personnel management process, motivate and discipline your employees.

Rules of communication in a team

It is often easy to build harmonious relationships with other employees at work if you follow simple rules.

1. Firstly, be polite and friendly - this will endear your colleagues to you. Don't be rude or rude to the people around you, even if you're not in the best mood.
2. Eliminate informal communication where it is inappropriate so as not to lose the respect of your colleagues.
3. Do not share personal information with co-workers. Your trust may provoke gossip or envy.
4. Do not try to retrain your colleagues to do their jobs; such actions may be perceived as a challenge and provoke a quarrel.
5. Do not ignore the traditions that have developed in the team.
6. Try to dress for work as casually as possible.

Diagnostics

Interaction in psychology is a broad area of ​​research in the field of interpersonal relationships in various spheres of human activity. With the help of test diagnostics, psychologists help determine the personal characteristics of an individual, his greatest strengths and formulate ways to achieve goals.

Research in the field of interpersonal relationships and communications allows us to optimally build profitable interaction in any field of activity.

• The Timothy Leary Questionnaire is a diagnostic of interpersonal relationships that allows you to determine a person’s self-image and to evaluate him from others. The test consists of 128 judgments. Of these, in the first circle you need to select those that correspond to a person’s idea of ​​himself, in the second – to his ideas about the ideal image. The result is provided in graphical form.
• The Thomas -Kilman Test of Behavior in Conflict Situations is designed to measure an individual’s interaction style and also identify predispositions to create or resolve conflicts. The test contains 30 pairs of situations from which you need to choose the one that is most typical for the individual.
• Tests by Viktor Boyko determine the presence and degree of negative communicative attitudes that are formed as a result of negative experiences of interactions or pronounced negative emotionality. The test's 25 questions require sincere "yes" or "no" answers.

• R. Girshfield's test diagnoses dependence in interpersonal interaction in various spheres: partnership, love, family. The test consists of 48 questions, to which 4 possible answers are given.
• The Berry and Janae Weinhold scale was developed to assess interdependence in relationships. The test consists of 20 questions.
• T. Bant's manipulative attitude scale allows us to identify the attitude towards an interaction partner as a means of achieving personal goals, without taking into account his will and desires. The test consists of 20 questions about judgments about people around you.

These and other tests are used by practicing psychologists. Many are provided on websites; you can go through them individually for free. In this case, a simplified interpretation of the result is provided. If you take a serious approach to the situation, it is worth getting advice and more detailed explanations from practicing specialists.

You can undergo psychological diagnostics at psychological assistance centers. Services are provided both upon individual request and for collective research within the company. Prices for services vary, depending on requests. The approximate minimum cost of consultation is in the range of 1200-1500 rubles.