International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

A goal-oriented perspective on communication entails the assumption that social interaction is an instrument for achieving objectives. Communication is the means by which something gets done. Goals have several features . They vary in their level of abstraction (→  Goals, Cognitive Aspects of ). For example, a person who is seen typing at a computer may be writing a research paper, attempting to build a case for tenure, or contributing to communication science. Individuals have the capacity to form and maintain goals at varying levels of abstraction. Goals also show variability with regard to their importance. Certain aims are crucial to life satisfaction for some individuals, whereas others might view the same objective as trivial. Third, some goals are more challenging than others. Achieving a challenging goal demands more resources from the social actor, which may take the form of time devoted to planning. A distinction can be drawn between primary and secondary goals ( Dillard et al. 1989 ). The primary goal provides the explanation for the social episode. It is the answer to the question: what are the interactants doing? Secondary goals are all of the concerns that follow from consideration of the primary goal. For example, if one individual wishes to give advice to another person, the message source may be concerned about appearing overbearing and thereby giving offense. ... log in or subscribe to read full text