LECTURE 5. Types of interaction. Psychology of communication

Types of interaction

In psychology, such a concept as interaction is revealed as the actions of people directed towards each other. Such actions can be considered as a set of certain actions aimed at achieving one’s goals, solving practical problems and realizing value guidelines.

Basic types of human interaction

Various types of interaction are distinguished depending on the situation that caused it. This is what gave rise to their various classifications.

The most common classification is based on performance orientation.

Types of interaction in the communication process

Cooperation is an interaction in which its participants reach a mutual agreement on how to act to achieve common goals and try not to violate it as long as their areas of interest coincide.
Competition is an interaction that is characterized by the achievement of one’s personal or social goals and interests in conditions of confrontation of interests between people.

Types of interpersonal interaction often determine the nature of relationships between people. The division into types can be based on the intentions and actions of people, which indicate how each participant in the interaction understands the meaning of what is happening. In this case, 3 more types are distinguished.

Types and types of interaction

Additional. This is an interaction in which partners calmly and objectively treat each other’s positions.
Intersecting. An interaction during which participants, on the one hand, demonstrate a reluctance to understand the position and opinion of other interaction partners. At the same time, on the other hand, they actively demonstrate their own intentions in this regard.
Hidden interaction. This type includes two levels at once: external, expressed verbally, and hidden, manifested in a person’s thoughts. It assumes either very good knowledge of the participant in the interaction, or your sensitivity to non-verbal means of communication. These include tone of voice, intonation, facial expressions and gestures, in general, everything that can give a hidden meaning to a conversation.

Styles and types of interaction and their features

Cooperation. It is aimed at the complete satisfaction of interaction partners with their needs and aspirations. Here one of the motives given above is realized: cooperation or competition.
Opposition. This style involves focusing on one’s own goals, without taking into account any interests of the other party involved. The principle of individualism appears.
Compromise. It is realized in partial achievement of the goals and interests of both parties.
Compliance. It involves sacrificing one’s own interests to achieve the goals of a partner or giving up minor needs to achieve some more significant goal.
Avoidance. This style represents withdrawal or avoidance of contact. In this case, it is possible to lose your own goals to exclude winnings.

Sometimes activity and communication are considered as two components of the social existence of society. In other cases, communication is designated as a certain aspect of activity: it is included in any activity and is part of it. The activity itself appears to us as a condition and basis for communication. Moreover, in psychology, the concepts of “interaction” “communication” are at the same level as “personality” “activity” and are fundamental.

Types of interaction in psychology play a huge role not only in interpersonal communication, but also in the process of human development and, as a consequence, society as a whole. Without communication, human society would not be able to fully function, and we would never have reached such heights of socio-economic development as we do now.

Social interactions: classification according to Sorokin

The classic of world sociology identifies the grounds for classification:

number of interacting people;
short-term or long-term interaction;
unilateral or multilateral interaction;
Whether the interaction is organized or not;
spontaneously or deliberately;
intellectual, sensory-emotional or volitional level of interactions.

First attempts to explain gravitational interaction

Even in the times of Ancient Greece, scientists wondered about gravitational interaction. So Aristotle and some of his followers believed that gravitational attraction is “The desire of the bodies of the sublunary world to their natural places of residence.” Other points of view connected gravitational attraction with the desire of related bodies to reunite. For a very long time, many observable phenomena could be described quite well in such a paradigm, but already in the 16th century such ideas turned out to be insufficient. The reason for this was the extensive development of astronomical science.

When discovering planets and studying their motion, scientists expressed a variety of hypotheses. Thus, some believed that there were three forces under the influence of which the planets move. One of them pulled the planet towards the Earth (the geocentric model of the solar system was used), the other repelled the planet from the Earth, and the third caused a lateral displacement. The reason for the emergence of such a concept was the visible eccentricity of the orbits of celestial bodies, the distance and approach of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. Later, a similar hypothesis appeared, but in the heliocentric model of the solar system (the planets still moved under the influence of three forces, but the source of these forces was the Sun).

The development of these ideas led to the understanding that one of the forces can be abandoned, namely, the force that causes the lateral displacement of planets. Supporters of “two-strong” celestial mechanics were a large number of authoritative scientists of that time, which made further research difficult. Despite this, Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703) and Christopher Wren (1632 - 1732) built a hypothesis according to which the planets move only under the influence of gravity towards the Sun, while the orbit was formed due to inertia. They also stated that the force of attraction should decrease inversely with the square of the distance between interacting bodies.

There were also quite exotic hypotheses: starting from the magnetic nature of gravity and ending with huge vortices that carried planets in space, which caused their movement.

Further steps in understanding gravity. General theory of relativity

For a long time, Newton's theory was sufficient to describe phenomena found in nature. But gradually, with the development of physics, results began to appear indicating the need to supplement Newton’s theory of gravity. Albert Einstein came to the aid of the scientific community by creating the General Theory of Relativity.

Very briefly, the General Theory of Relativity (GTR) states the following:

Gravitational interaction is not the interaction of bodies or fields in the literal sense, but is a consequence of the geometry of Space-Time, namely, the result of the deformation of Space-time due to the presence of mass-energy.

There are quite a large number of qualitative explanations of general relativity. In particular, here is an example of one such explanation. We will stop here for now in the study of General Relativity, and will return to this Great Theory a little later.

From astronomical tables to the law of gravity

One of the most serious scientific results obtained at that time were the astronomical tables of Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601). These tables were among the most accurate astronomical tables obtained at that time. Based on them, Tycho Brahe's student Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630) obtained the most famous laws of astronomy - Kepler's Laws. Kepler derived his basic ideas from previously written works. Thus, he used the ideas of heliocentricity of the solar system and the assumption that the force of gravitational interaction decreases in inverse proportion to the distance between bodies.

Analysis of astronomical tables

Kepler derived his laws from analysis of real data. He tried to find a general law that would allow him to describe the movement of any cosmic bodies, but was unable to obtain a general rule. Despite this, Kepler was the first to express almost all the ideas that Newton later used. Although Kepler's laws were obtained empirically, subsequent tests by theoretical astronomers showed that they are absolutely valid for the Solar System.

However, Kepler's work was not merely descriptive. Based on an analysis of the motion of 6 planets known at that time in the solar system, he suggested the presence of other planets that make adjustments to the orbits. Kepler also tried to connect the phenomenon of ebb and flow with the movement of the Moon and its gravitational interaction with the Earth.

Kepler's laws

1 Kepler's Law
Each planet in the solar system revolves in an ellipse, at one of the foci of which the Sun is located.

2 Kepler's Law

Each planet moves in a plane passing through the center of the Sun, and over equal periods of time, the radius vector connecting the Sun and the planet describes equal areas.

Equality of areas described by the radius vector from the Sun to the planet for equal periods of time

3 Kepler's Law

The squares of the periods of revolution of the planets around the Sun are related as the cubes of the semimajor axes of the planets' orbits.

$$\frac{T_{1}^{2}}{T_{2}^{2}} = \frac{a_{1}^{3}}{a_{2}^{3}}$$

A little later, Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) clarified the third law:

$$\frac{T_{1}^{2}\left(M + m_{1}\right)}{T_{2}^{2}\left(M + m_{2}\right)} = \ frac{a_{1}^{3}}{a_{2}^{3}}$$

where $M$ is the mass of the Sun, $m_{1}$ and $m_{2}$ are the masses of the planets.

$F_0, F_1$ are the foci of the ellipse for planet $P_1$, and $F_0, F_2$ are for planet $P_2$

Law of Gravity

After the work of Johannes Kepler, science made great progress in explaining gravitational interaction, but the progress was very specific. Scientists could more quickly answer the question “What is being observed?” instead of the desired “Why is this particular thing observed?”

Isaac Newton decided to answer the second question. Combining all the qualitative descriptions known at that time, the work of Johannes Kepler and considering several more assumptions, Newton received, perhaps, one of the most famous laws of nature - the Law of Gravity:

$$F = \frac{GMm}{R^{2}}$$

where $F$ is the force of gravitational attraction, $M$ and $m$ are the masses of attracting bodies, $R$ is the distance between interacting bodies, $G = 6.67 \cdot 10^{-11 } \frac{\text{m}^{2}\cdot \text{N}}{\text{kg}^{2}}$ is the gravitational constant.

The importance of Newton's results cannot be overestimated. In addition to the strict mathematical formulation of the Law of Universal Gravitation, Isaac Newton provided the scientific community with a whole mathematical model in which this law is applicable to all bodies with non-zero mass. Also, thanks to Newton, the foundations of integral and differential calculus appeared (set out in the mathematical foundations of natural philosophy).

Team building activities

As we have already said, one of the best ways to make people more friendly is to organize collective events, united under the general term “team building”. Next, we want to introduce you to several categories of team building that you can consider.

Intellectual team building

This category includes any collective activity that requires the use of mental abilities, for example, quests, role-playing games, photo competitions, etc. The point is for team members to be smart and use their heads. Intellectual activity reveals a person’s potential, brings out his talents and brings him closer to others.

Several examples of intellectual team building and their brief description:

City quest. The team must navigate to different places in the city, solve riddles, solve puzzles and find clues along the further route.
Photo navigation. The team receives a photograph of some place in the city on the gadget. You need to understand what this place is and arrive at it on time. There may be several places.
Do it yourself. The team receives the task of making an object (for example, a lamp or a chair) with their own hands, using any materials and components.
Art history. The team is going to visit a museum or art exhibition. Each participant is given the task of learning as much as possible about a particular exhibit or painting and then talking about the object on site, acting as a tour guide.
Craft. The team is given the task to choose an interesting craft (making mead or jam, embroidery, burning, wood carving, etc.) and make their own product.

For variety, you can divide a large team into several smaller teams to maintain the competitive effect. Of course, there should be prizes and rewards for victory that are valuable to the team building participants. For the manager, the reward will be a friendly and united team.

Creative team building

This type of team building allows you to unite the team on a deeper level. It increases the degree of trust of team members in each other, improves mutual understanding, and promotes even greater emancipation. Despite the fact that the proposed method has not yet taken root in Russia, its effectiveness is undeniable. The very fact of novelty adds even more zest to it.

A few examples of creative team building and their brief description:

Theater. The team puts on a production or performance and demonstrates it to other colleagues at the appointed time.
Music. The team masters musical instruments (or selects people who know how to play something) and composes their own work or performs a well-known composition.
Dancing. The team comes up with their own dance and demonstrates it to the rest of their colleagues at the appointed time. Another option is to arrange a dance party or go to a disco with the whole group.
Literature. The team is preparing for a public reading of a work or demonstrating knowledge of literature on a special day.
Movie. The team is tasked with making a short film on a free or specific topic. The functions of director, cameraman and actors are performed by team members.
Cooking. The team receives the task of preparing some dish from the cuisine of a certain country, including an exotic one. As a result, the whole team tastes the culinary delight and shares their impressions.

As in the previous case, a large team can be divided into several teams. But the emphasis is not on winning the competition, but on maximizing creative potential and establishing trusting relationships between team members.

Extreme team building

Another great way to bring the team together. But it should be borne in mind that it can be somewhat dangerous, because... Extreme recreation and related sports are taken as the basis. This method perfectly distracts people from work and allows them to get a lot of emotions and impressions, as well as a solid dose of adrenaline.

Several examples of extreme team building and their brief description:

Paintball. The team goes to a paintball club, puts on ammunition and plays “war games”.
Obstacle course. The team builds a strip with all kinds of obstacles (pits, ropes, nets, mud) and overcomes it. You can go to a specialized club.
Location orientation. The team is tasked with finding a certain number of control points in a specific area. The event can be held in the city, in the forest, in the mountains. Cars can be used.
Rafting. The team orders rafting on a mountain river from a travel agency and goes rafting (you need to take into account the difficulty category of the rafting route).
Parachuting. The team orders parachute jumps from a specialized club. Thanks to the crazy emotions, such a pastime will turn into first-class team-building training.

We won’t argue that such extreme sports are not suitable for every team, and especially not for every person. But if you still dare to tickle the nerves of yourself and your team, you can be sure that your people will not only remember such adventures for a long time, but will also become real comrades in arms.

So, we have offered you several team building options that will provide you with serious support in building a strong team. But we are sure that you would also like to focus on such team building methods that are used today in world-famous companies. And especially for you, we have made a selection of companies with the best corporate culture.