Interpersonal interactions and their forms. Interpersonal interaction: transactional analysis Service as a form of interpersonal interactions

No person is able to live in complete isolation; some form of interpersonal interaction will certainly be present. This need for close, long-term interactions lives in each of us. It is explained by social and biological reasons and is aimed at human survival.

Forms and types of interpersonal interaction

Psychology has long been interested in the issue of interpersonal interactions and considers them through the prism, since these phenomena complement each other, but these concepts should not be confused.

Communication will certainly be a means of communication (transfer of information) between two or more subjects; it can be personal or indirect (mail, Internet). But interaction does not always imply communication, which makes the latter a special case of various types of contacts. IN social psychology The term “interpersonal interaction” refers to the contact of two or more subjects, leading to a change in their behavior or mood. The three main objectives of such contact are: the formation of interpersonal relationships, interpersonal perception and understanding of a person, and the provision of psychological influence. To solve these problems, two main types of interactions are used: cooperation - progress towards the goal of one of the partners contributes or does not impede the success of others, and competition - the achievement of one of the partners excludes or makes it difficult for the others to successfully complete their affairs.

There is also a division of interpersonal interactions by type:

1. Depending on the purpose - business, personal.
2. Depending on the modality – positive, negative, ambivalent.
3. Depending on the direction - vertical, horizontal. An example of such relationships can be work contacts; in the case of communication with superiors or subordinates, the direction will be vertical, when talking with colleagues - horizontal.

The complexity of the processes of interpersonal interaction gives rise to many classifications, some of which were given above, but the concept will not be fully disclosed without mentioning the forms of their manifestation, of which there are many. The main ones are: friendship, affection, love, care, pastime, play, social influence, competition, conflict and ritual interaction. The latter form is very common, distinguished by special rules that the relationship is subject to. This helps to symbolically express social status person in a group, this form was invented specifically so that everyone can satisfy their need for recognition. Everyone uses such rituals - when communicating with parents and children, subordinates and superiors, civil servants and store clerks. Each form of interaction performs one of three functions - assistance in adaptation to a new environment, cognitive, or satisfying a person’s need for contact with other people. This once again confirms the importance of the phenomenon, as well as its complexity.

The famous French writer and thinker A. Saint-Exupery, author of the beautiful fairy tale about the Little Prince, assessing the importance of communication in human life, defined it as “the only luxury that man has.” The reality and necessity of communication are determined by the joint activities of people. It is in the process of communication and only in communication that the essence of a person can manifest itself.

IN domestic psychology It has been established that the development of a child, his socialization - transformation into a “social person” - begins with communication with people close to him, and, above all, with his mother. Direct emotional communication between a child and his mother is the first type of his activity as a subject of communication.

All further development of the child is determined by the place he occupies in the system human relations. Without communication, personality formation is generally impossible. It is in the process of communicating with other people that a child assimilates universal human experience, accumulates knowledge, masters skills and abilities, forms his consciousness and self-awareness, develops beliefs, ideals, etc. Only in the process of communication do a child develop spiritual needs, moral and aesthetic feelings, and his character develops. The development of a child directly depends on the circle and nature of his communication.

Communication is of great importance in the development of not only the individual, but also society as a whole. Without communication, human society is unthinkable. Communication acts in society as a fundamental condition for connecting individuals and at the same time as a way of developing these individuals themselves.

The importance of communication for people’s lives and activities determines the unflagging interest in this subject on the part of psychologists. The category “communication”, along with the concepts of “personality”, “consciousness”, “activity”, is fundamental in psychology. Like personality, consciousness and activity, communication is the subject of research not only by psychologists, but also by sociologists, communication specialists, etc. This causes ambiguity in the understanding of communication by different scientists and the difficulty of formulating a single definition.

In the very general view communication in psychology is defined as a process of interaction between people, during which interpersonal relationships arise, manifest and are formed, thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc. are exchanged.

For a deeper understanding of the essence of communication, it is important to establish the nature of its connection with the process of activity. In Russian psychology, the thesis about the unity of communication and activity has been accepted, which follows from the understanding of communication as the reality of human relations. In accordance with this thesis, any forms of communication are specific forms of joint activity of people. However, the nature of the connection between communication and activity is understood ambiguously by researchers.

Sometimes activity and communication are considered as two sides of a person’s social existence, his way of life. In other cases, communication is understood as a certain aspect of activity: it is included in any activity, it is its element. At the same time, the activity itself is presented as a condition and basis for communication. Finally, communication is interpreted as a special type of activity - communicative activity - which acts independently.

A broad understanding of the connection between activity and communication is considered appropriate: communication is considered both as an aspect of joint activity and as its product. The famous social psychologist G.M. Andreeva believes that through communication, activity is organized and developed.

Building a plan for joint activities requires each participant to have an optimal understanding of the goals and objectives of the activity, to understand the specifics of its object and the capabilities of each participant. The inclusion of participants in this process allows for “coordination” or “mismatch” of their activities. This is possible thanks to the influence function, in which the connection between communication and activity is manifested. Thus, G.M. Andreeva concludes, activity through communication is not just organized, but actually enriched, new connections and relationships between people arise in it.

By communicating with other people, a person learns universal human experience, historically established social norms, values, knowledge and methods of activity, and is also formed as a person. Communication is the most important factor in human mental development. Thus, communication acts as a universal reality in which a person’s inner world arises, exists, and manifests itself throughout life.

According to its purpose, communication is multifunctional. There are five main functions of communication:

The pragmatic function of communication is realized through the interaction of people in the process of joint activity.

The formative function of communication manifests itself in the process of human mental development. It is known that at certain stages of development, the behavior, activity and attitude of a child to the world and to himself are mediated by his communication with adults. In the course of further development, external, communication-mediated forms of interaction between a child and an adult are transformed into internal mental functions and processes. Communicating with an adult, a child not only mechanically acquires a sum of skills, knowledge and abilities, but also participates in a complex process of mutual influences, enrichments and changes. The child actively and critically processes the experience of others offered to him, using it to build a consistent picture of the world.

Confirmation function. In the process of communicating with other people, a person gets the opportunity to know, affirm and confirm himself and his worth. Even W. James noted that for a person “there is no more monstrous punishment than to be left to oneself in society and remain completely unnoticed.”

The function of organizing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. The perception of other people and the maintenance of various relationships with them - from intimate personal to purely business - for any person is associated with the establishment of certain emotional relationships. Emotional interpersonal relationships are not the only type of social connection available to modern man However, they permeate the entire system of relationships between people; it is emotionality that determines the specifics of human communication.

The intrapersonal function of communication is realized in a person’s communication with himself (through internal or external dialogue). Such communication can be considered as a universal way of human thinking.

Types of communication are extremely diverse. Based on the use of means, direct and indirect communication are distinguished.

Direct communication, face-to-face communication, is historically the first form of communication. Based on it in more later periods development of civilization, various types of indirect communication arose.

Indirect communication can be considered as incomplete psychological contact with the help of written or technical devices (telephone, telegraph, Internet), which make it difficult or separate in time the receipt of feedback between the participants in communication.

There are also interpersonal and mass communication.

Interpersonal is associated with direct contacts of people in groups or pairs.

Mass is communication mediated various types mass media.

In addition, interpersonal and role communication are distinguished.

In the first case, the subjects of communication are specific individuals who have unique individual qualities that are revealed during communication and the organization of joint actions.

In the second case, communication participants act as bearers of certain roles (teacher-student, buyer-seller). In role-based communication, a person is to a certain extent deprived of the spontaneity of his behavior, since certain of his actions are dictated by the role he plays. In the process of such communication, a person is no longer reflected as an individual, but as a certain social unit performing given functions.

In social psychology, three forms of interpersonal communication are also distinguished.

Imperative communication is an authoritarian, directive form of interaction with a communication partner, aimed at achieving control over his behavior, attitudes and thoughts, forcing him to certain actions or decisions. In this case, the communication partner is considered as an object of influence and acts as a passive party. The peculiarity of the imperative is that final goal communication - coercion of a partner - not veiled. Orders, regulations and demands are used as means of exerting influence. The use of imperative communication is quite effective. For example, in army relations or in “superior-subordinate” relationships. But it is also possible to identify areas of interpersonal relationships where the use of the imperative is inappropriate. These are intimate-personal and marital relationships, child-parent contacts, etc.

Manipulative communication is a form of interpersonal communication in which influence on a communication partner in order to achieve one’s intentions is carried out covertly. Like the imperative, manipulation involves the desire to achieve control over the behavior and thoughts of another person. The manipulative style of communication is widespread in the field of propaganda and advertising.

Imperative and manipulative forms of communication are types of monologue communication. A person who considers another as an object of his influence communicates with himself, with his goals and objectives, without seeing the true interlocutor, ignoring him.

Dialogical communication can be defined as equal subject-subject interaction for the purpose of mutual knowledge and self-knowledge of communication partners. Dialogical (some authors call it humanistic) communication allows us to achieve deeper mutual understanding, self-disclosure of partners, and creates conditions for mutual personal growth.

In psychology, it has been established that communication is a complex and multifaceted process; it is a formation in which individual aspects can be distinguished, i.e. the structure is described. When characterizing the structure of communication, G.M. Andreeva suggests distinguishing three interconnected aspects: communicative, interactive and perceptual. These aspects of communication are determined in accordance with the functions realized by it in the process of joint life activity of people: information-communicative, regulatory-communicative and affective-communicative.

The communicative side of communication, or communication, consists of the exchange of information between communicating individuals.

The interactive side consists in organizing interaction between communicating individuals, i.e. in the exchange of not only knowledge, ideas, but also actions.

The perceptual side of communication means the process of communication partners perceiving each other and establishing mutual understanding on this basis. In reality, each of these sides does not exist in isolation from the others and their identification is possible only in the course of scientific analysis.

12.2. Regularities and effects of social perception.

The process of perception by one person of another acts as an obligatory component of communication and can conditionally be called the perceptual side of communication. The term “social perception” was first introduced by J. Bruner in 1947 during the development of the so-called “new view” of perception. Nowadays, social perception is understood as the process of perceiving social objects, which means other people, social groups, and large social communities. Not only an individual, but also a group can act as a subject of social perception.

Of particular importance in human life is interpersonal perception, or interpersonal perception, since it is this process that is directly included in communication.

Based on the external side of behavior, we, according to S.L. Rubinstein, seem to “read” another person, decipher the meaning of his external data. The impressions that arise in this case play an important regulatory role in the process of communication - firstly, because, by getting to know another, the cognizing individual himself is formed, and secondly, because the success of the organization with him of coordinated actions.

The content of interpersonal perception depends on the characteristics of both the subject and the object of perception. The attitudes and past experiences of the subject of perception have a significant influence on the process of interpersonal perception. In everyday communication, people, not knowing the actual reasons for the behavior of another person or knowing them insufficiently, in conditions of a lack of information, begin to attribute to the other both the reasons for the behavior and sometimes the patterns of behavior themselves. Attribution is carried out either on the basis of the similarity of the behavior of the perceived person with another model existing in the past experience of the subject of perception, or on the basis of an analysis of one’s own motives assumed in a similar situation. Thus, there arises the whole system methods of such attribution, which in social psychology is called causal attribution.

An important role in the process of human perception by a person is played by attitudes that lead to the emergence of various socio-psychological effects. Three such effects have been most fully studied: the halo effect (“halo effect”), the effect of novelty and primacy, and the effect of stereotyping.

The essence of the “halo effect” is that information received about a person is “categorized” in a certain way, namely, superimposed on the image that has already been created in advance. This pre-existing image acts as a halo, preventing one from seeing the actual features and manifestations of the object of perception.

The halo effect manifests itself when forming a first impression of a person and consists in the fact that a general favorable impression leads to positive assessments of the unknown qualities of the perceived person and, conversely, a general unfavorable impression contributes to the predominance of negative assessments. IN experimental studies It was found that the halo effect is most pronounced when the perceiver has minimal information about the object of perception, as well as when judgments concern moral qualities. The experiments of A.A. Bodalev are well known, in which two groups of students were shown a photograph of the same person. The first group was told that the man in the photograph was a hardened criminal, and the second group was told that he was an eminent scientist. After this, the students were asked to create a verbal portrait of the photographed person. At the same time, in different groups the same appearance features received opposite interpretations. In the first case, deep-set eyes testified to hidden anger, a prominent chin - to the determination to “go to the end” in a crime, etc. Accordingly, in the second group, the same “deep-set eyes” spoke about the depth of thought, and a prominent chin - about willpower in overcoming difficulties on the path of knowledge, etc.

Primacy and recency effects relate to salience of a certain order presenting information about a person to form an idea about him. The primacy effect manifests itself in the fact that when perceiving a stranger, the information that is presented first has a predominant influence. People say: “The first impression is the best.” On the contrary, in situations of perception of a familiar person, the effect of novelty operates, which consists in the fact that the latter, i.e. newer information turns out to be the most significant.

In a broad sense, the listed effects can be considered as manifestations of a special process that accompanies the perception of a person by a person - the phenomenon of stereotyping. A stereotype is some stable image of a phenomenon or person, which is used as a known “abbreviation” when interacting with this phenomenon or person. Stereotypes in communication, which arise, in particular, when people get to know each other, have both a specific origin and a specific meaning. As a rule, a stereotype arises on the basis of fairly limited past experience. Very often it develops in relation to a person’s group affiliation, for example, his belonging to some profession. In this case, pronounced professional traits observed in representatives of a certain profession encountered in the past are considered as traits inherent in every representative of this profession (“all teachers are edifying,” “all accountants are pedants,” etc.). Here there is a tendency to “extract meaning” from previous experience, to draw conclusions based on similarities with this previous experience, without being embarrassed by its limitations.

Stereotyping in the process of people getting to know each other can have two different consequences. On the one hand, it leads to a certain simplification of the process of knowing another person. At the same time, the stereotype does not necessarily carry an evaluative load: in the perception of another person there is not always a “shift” towards his emotional acceptance or rejection. A simply simplified approach is possible, which, although it does not contribute to the accuracy of constructing the image of the other, is, nevertheless, in some sense necessary, because helps shorten the learning process. On the other hand, stereotyping contributes to prejudice. If a judgment is based on limited past experience and this experience was negative, then any new perception of a representative of the same group is often tinged with hostility. Ethnic stereotypes are especially common when, based on limited information about individual representatives of any ethnic groups, preconceived conclusions are drawn about the entire group.

A special range of problems of interpersonal perception arises in connection with the inclusion of specific emotional regulators in this process. People not only perceive each other, but form certain relationships. Based on the assessments made, a diverse range of feelings is born - from rejection of a particular person to sympathy and even love for him. In this regard, attraction is of great importance for the effective communication of people with each other.

Attraction is both the process of forming the attractiveness of a person for the perceiver, and the result of this process. Attraction can be considered as a special type of social attitude towards another person, characterized by a predominance of the emotional component, evaluating the other mainly in categories characteristic of affective assessments.

12.3.Verbal (speech) and nonverbal communications.

In the process of communication, people exchange with each other various ideas, ideas, interests, moods, feelings, attitudes, etc. All this can be considered as information, and then the communication process itself can be understood as a process of information exchange. In conditions of human communication, information is not only transmitted, but also formed, clarified, and developed.

The transmission of any information is possible only through sign systems. Sign systems that are used in the communication process underlie two traditionally distinguished types of communication: verbal (with speech as a sign system) and non-verbal (using various non-speech sign systems).

Speech is the most universal means of communication. It is a historically established form of human communication with other people through natural language.

Language acts as a socially necessary, socially fixed and historically conditioned system: unequal social conditions, various paths of development give rise to different vocabulary and structure of the language. Speech and language represent a complex dialectical unity. In the process of its development, communicating with adults, the child learns native language and learns to use it in his own speech.

In psychology and psycholinguistics, a distinction is made between external speech, oriented towards others, and internal speech, intended for the subject himself. In turn, external speech can be oral and written. Oral speech is divided into monologue (in the form of a lecture, report, etc.) and dialogic. Each of the identified types of speech has its own socio-psychological characteristics.

The most important way of communication is dialogical speech, i.e. a conversation supported by interlocutors jointly discussing and resolving any issues. Dialogue presupposes and includes:

uniqueness and equality of partners;

the difference and originality of their points of view;

everyone's focus on understanding and interpreting what is said;

The reply is in process;

complementarity of the positions of the participants in communication, the correlation of which is the goal of the dialogue.

The breadth, completeness and dismemberment of dialogical speech vary. Speech can be shortened so much that speakers can understand each other literally “at a glance.” This happens when interlocutors strive to understand each other, when they have a lot in common. On the contrary, the lack of internal contact between interlocutors and differences in attitude towards the subject of speech can create difficulties in understanding the true meaning of speech and require a more complete and detailed construction.

In the process of communication, speech performs a number of functions.

When communicating, a person can point to any object - this function is called pointing, or indicative.

By reporting something, the subject can express his opinions on any issue - this function is called predicative, or the function of statement.

In addition to reporting about any events or phenomena, speech is very often aimed at causing certain actions in the interlocutor, as well as thoughts, feelings, desires - this function is defined as the function of motivation.

Speech encourages you to think about something, to have a definite attitude towards this or that event, to experience feelings of regret, indignation, joy, etc. The motivating power of speech depends on its expressiveness. In turn, the expressiveness of speech depends on the structure of sentence construction and the selection of words. At the same time, liveliness, figurativeness of language, and accessibility for understanding are important. Although speech is a universal means of communication, it must be supplemented by the use of non-verbal means of communication, which, according to many researchers, are much more important for communication than verbal statements themselves.

In psychology, there are four forms of nonverbal communication: kinesics, paralinguistics, spatial-temporal organization and visual communication. Each of these forms of communication uses its own sign system.

Kinesics is a system of means of communication, including gestures, facial expressions, and pantomime. The kinetic system appears as a clearly perceived property of general motor skills, various parts body (hands - gestures; faces - facial expressions; poses - pantomime). This gross motor activity of various parts of the body is an expression of a person's emotional reactions and states. The inclusion of the kinetic system in a communication situation adds nuances to communication that turn out to be ambiguous when the same gestures are used in different national cultures. For example, a nod of the head among Russians and Bulgarians has exactly the opposite meaning: agreement among Russians and denial among Bulgarians. Expressive movements, as S.L. Rubinstein noted, represent a kind of “subtext” to some text that needs to be known in order to correctly reveal the meaning of what is happening. The language of movement reveals the internal content in external action.

Paralinguistic and extralinguistic sign systems represent the next type of “additives” to verbal communication. The paralinguistic system is a vocalization system, i.e. voice quality, range, tonality. Extralinguistic system - inclusion of pauses and other inclusions in speech, such as coughing, crying, laughter; This also includes the rate of speech.

The space and time of organizing the communication process also act as a special sign system. Space and time carry an important semantic load and are components of communicative situations. Thus, placing partners facing each other promotes contact and symbolizes attention to the speaker. A shout in the back, on the contrary, can have a negative effect on the communication process. The advantage of certain spatial forms of organizing communication has been experimentally proven both for two communication partners and in mass audiences. As a kind of addition to semantically significant information, standards developed in various cultures regarding the temporal characteristics of communication act. The area of ​​psychology that deals with the norms of spatial and temporal organization of communication is called proxemics.

A number of studies in this area are associated with the study of specific sets of spatial and temporal constants of communicative situations. These isolated sets are called “chronotopes”. For example, such chronotopes are described as the chronotope of a “hospital ward”, “carriage companion”, etc. The specificity of the communication situation sometimes creates unexpected impact effects: for example, not always explainable frankness towards the first person you meet, if this is a “carriage companion”.

Visual communication is eye contact, the initial study of which was associated with intimate communication. Many researchers believe that eye contact between communication partners can serve as a measure of sympathy between them. This factor largely depends on cultural traditions: in a number of countries, eye contact is avoided out of respect; in some nations, direct eye to eye gaze is regarded as a challenge and aggression.

Each of the described nonverbal communication systems uses its own sign system, its own code. For proper mutual understanding, the codification and decodification of these systems must be known to all participants in the communication process. But if in the case of speech this codification system is more or less generally known, then in non-verbal communication it is important in each case to determine what can be considered a code and, most importantly, how to ensure that the other communication partner owns the same code. Lack of awareness can cause distortions in the communication process and ultimately lead to communication breakdown.

12.4. Communication as interaction.

The interactive side of communication most often manifests itself when organizing joint activities of people. The exchange of knowledge and ideas about this activity inevitably presupposes that the achieved mutual understanding is realized in new attempts to develop joint activities and organize them. This allows interaction to be interpreted as the organization of joint activities.

The psychological structure of joint activity includes the presence of common goals and motives, joint actions and a common result. common goal joint activity is a central component of its structure. A goal is an ideally presented overall result that a group strives for. The general goal can be broken down into more private and specific tasks, the step-by-step solution of which brings the collective subject closer to the goal. Required component psychological structure joint activity is a common motive. The next component of joint activity is joint actions, i.e. such elements that are aimed at performing current (operational and fairly simple) tasks. The structure of joint activity is completed by the overall result obtained by its participants.

In psychology, the entire variety of interactions between people is usually divided into the following types:

cooperation: both interaction partners actively help each other, actively contribute to the achievement of each individual goals and the common goals of joint activities;

confrontation: both partners oppose each other and interfere with the achievement of each individual goals;

avoidance of interaction: both partners try to avoid active cooperation;

unidirectional assistance: when one of the participants in a joint activity contributes to the achievement of the individual goals of the other, and the second avoids interacting with him;

unidirectional opposition: one of the partners prevents the achievement of the other’s goals, and the second avoids interacting with the first;

contrastive interaction: one of the participants tries to promote the other, and the second resorts to a strategy of actively opposing the first (in such situations, such opposition can be masked in one form or another);

compromise interaction: both partners show individual elements of both assistance and resistance.

Generalization of the above types allows us to distinguish two main types of interaction:

aimed at collaboration and collaboration;

based on rivalry and competition, often leading to conflictual interaction.

Conflict (from Latin conflictus - collision) is a collision of opposing goals, interests, positions, opinions or views of opponents or subjects of interaction. The basis of any conflict is a situation that includes either contradictory positions of the parties on any issue, or opposing goals or means of achieving them in given circumstances, or a divergence of interests, desires, inclinations of opponents, etc. A conflict situation, therefore, includes the subjects of a possible conflict and its object. However, for a conflict to begin to develop, an incident is necessary when one of the parties begins to act, infringing on the interests of the other party. If the opposite side responds in kind, the conflict goes from potential to actual.

Socio-psychological analysis allows us to distinguish four types of conflict:

intrapersonal. The parties to the conflict can be two or more components of the same personality - for example, individual traits, types or instances. In this case, we are dealing with a conflict-generating collision of individual personality traits and human behavior;

interpersonal conflict occurs between two (or more) individuals. In this case, there is a confrontation regarding needs, motives, goals, values ​​and/or attitudes;

personal-group conflict often arises when an individual’s behavior does not correspond to group norms and expectations;

intergroup. In this case, there may be a clash of behavioral stereotypes, norms, goals and/or values ​​of different groups.

In the dynamics of conflict, the following four main stages are distinguished:

The emergence of an objective conflict situation. This situation is not immediately recognized by people, so it can be called the “stage of potential conflict.”

Awareness of an objective conflict situation. In order for a conflict to be realized, an incident is necessary, i.e. a situation in which one of the parties begins to act, infringing on the interests of the other party.

Transition to conflict behavior. After the conflict is recognized, the parties move on to conflict behavior, which is aimed at blocking the achievements of the opposite party, its aspirations, goals, and intentions. When a conflict moves from potential to actual, it can develop as direct or indirect, constructive, stabilizing or non-constructive.

A constructive interpersonal conflict is one in which the opponents do not go beyond business arguments, relationships and do not touch the personality of the opposite party. In this case, various behavioral strategies can be observed. K.W. Thomas and R.X. Kilman identified the following strategies for behavior in a conflict situation:

• cooperation aimed at finding a solution that satisfies the interests of all parties;

  compromise - resolving disagreements through mutual concessions;

  avoidance, which consists in the desire to get out of a conflict situation without resolving it, without giving in, but also without insisting on one’s own;

  adaptation - the tendency to smooth out contradictions by sacrificing one’s interests;

  competition - rivalry, open struggle for one's interests.

An unconstructive interpersonal conflict arises when one of the opponents resorts to morally condemnable methods of struggle, seeks to suppress the partner, discrediting and humiliating him in the eyes of others. Usually this causes resistance from the other side, the dialogue is accompanied by mutual insults, solving the problem becomes impossible, and interpersonal relationships are destroyed.

Conflict resolution is the final stage of its progression. It is possible both by changing the objective conflict situation and by transforming its images that opponents have. Resolution can be partial (when conflicting actions are eliminated, but the incentive to conflict remains) and complete (when the conflict is eliminated at the level of external behavior and at the level of internal motivations). Thus, there are four possible types of conflict resolution:

• complete resolution at an objective level due to the transformation of an objective conflict situation - for example, spatial or social separation of the parties, providing them with scarce resources, the absence of which led to the conflict;

  partial resolution at an objective level due to the transformation of an objective conflict situation in the direction of creating disinterest in conflict actions;

  full permission for subjective level due to a radical change in the images of the conflict situation;

  partial resolution at the subjective level due to a limited, but sufficient to temporarily stop the contradiction, change in images in a conflict situation.

12.5.Types and structure of small groups.

The main form of social association of people is a small group.

A small group is a small community of people connected by direct interaction. Its lower and upper boundaries are determined by qualitative characteristics, the main ones of which are contact and integrity. Contact is the ability of each group member to regularly communicate with each other, perceive and evaluate each other, exchange information, mutual assessments and influences. Integrity is defined as the social and psychological unity of individuals within a group, allowing them to be perceived as a single whole.

Most experts take three people as the lower limit of the size of a small group, since in a group of two people (dyad) group socio-psychological phenomena occur in a special way. The upper limit of a small group is determined by its qualitative characteristics and usually does not exceed 20-30, according to some experts, up to 50 people. The optimal size of a small group depends on the nature of the joint activity being performed and is in the range of 5-12 people. In smaller groups, the phenomenon of social satiation is more likely to arise; larger groups more easily break up into smaller ones, in which individuals are connected by closer contacts. In this regard, the American psychologist C. Cooley proposed to distinguish primary groups, i.e. the smallest in size and further indivisible communities, in which all members are in direct contact with each other, and secondary, formally representing single communities, but including several primary groups.

Another American researcher, E. Mayo, divided all groups into formal and informal. In formal groups, membership and relationships are predominantly formal in nature, i.e. determined by formal regulations and agreements. Formal small groups are, first of all, primary groups of divisions of social organizations and institutions. Organizational and institutional small groups are elements social structure society and are created to meet social needs. The leading area of ​​activity and the main psychological mechanism for uniting individuals within organizational and institutional small groups is joint activity. People unite in informal groups on the basis of the internal, inherent needs of individuals for communication, belonging, understanding, sympathy and love.

The third classification, authored by G. Hyman, distinguishes membership groups and reference groups. Referentiality is the significance of group values, norms, and assessments for the individual. J. Kelly identified as the main functions of the reference group the comparative (standards of behavior accepted in the group act as reference samples for a person, which he is guided by in making decisions and assessments) and normative (group values ​​allow a person to assess how much his behavior corresponds to the norms of the group ).

According to the time of existence, there are temporary groups, within which the association of individuals is limited in time (participants in a group discussion or neighbors in a compartment on a train), and stable, the relative constancy of whose existence is determined by their purpose and long-term goals of functioning (family, work and educational groups).

Depending on the degree of arbitrariness of an individual’s decision on joining a particular group, participating in its life activities and leaving it, groups are divided into open and closed. A striking example of closed groups are sects.

The structure of a small group is a set of connections that develop between individuals in it. Since the main areas of activity of individuals in a small group are joint activities and communication, when studying small groups, the structure of connections and relationships generated by joint activities (functional, organizational, economic, managerial) and the structure of connections generated by communication and psychological relationships (communicative) are most often distinguished structure, structure of emotional relationships, role and informal status structures).

When studying formal groups and organizations, following E. Mayo, it is customary to distinguish between the formal and informal structures of the group. To study the informal structure of a small group, the sociometry method proposed by D. Moreno is most often used. The main characteristics of the informal structure of a small group, identified using sociometry, are:

sociometric status of group members, i.e. the position they occupy in the system of interpersonal preferences and deviations;

characteristics of mutual preferences and deviations;

the presence of microgroups whose members are connected by relationships of mutual preferences, and the nature of the relationships between them;

the relative number of mutual preferences (the so-called sociometric cohesion of the group).

The communicative structure of a small group is a set of connections between group members. In this structure, of particular importance are: the position that individuals occupy in the communication system (access to receiving and transmitting information circulating in the group, to the volume of information important for the life of the group), the direction and intensity of intra-group communications.

The role structure of a small group is a set of relationships between individuals. The most important component of this structure is the distribution of group roles, i.e. typical modes of behavior prescribed, expected and implemented by participants in the group process. Thus, when analyzing group problem solving, the roles of “idea generator”, “critic”, “motivator”, etc. are highlighted. In the most general form, when analyzing the process of interaction in a group, roles associated with solving problems and roles associated with providing support to other group members are distinguished. Analysis of the role structure of a small group allows us to determine which role functions and to what extent are implemented by the participants in group interaction.

The structure of social power and influence in a small group is a set of connections between individuals, characterized by the direction and intensity of their mutual influence. Depending on the method of exercising influence, various types of social power are distinguished: reward, coercion, legitimate, expert and referent.

12.6. Intergroup interaction.

The subject of research into the psychology of intergroup interaction is the psychological patterns of behavior and interaction between people, determined by their belonging to certain social groups (large or small).

One of the first scientists to pay attention to the psychological patterns of relations between groups was W. Sumner, who described the phenomenon of ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism is a property of the consciousness of an ethnic group associated with an exaggeration of the positively assessed characteristics of one’s own ethnic group, the values ​​and norms of which act as the center and criterion for evaluating all other groups. Ethnocentrism manifests itself in a feeling of superiority of one's ethnic and cultural group and simultaneous dislike and hostility towards other groups.

A distinctive feature of intergroup relations is subjectivity, partiality of intergroup perception and evaluation, which manifests itself in such phenomena as stereotypes and prejudices. Intragroup bias is the tendency to have a favorable attitude towards one’s own group, which contributes to the opposition between “we” - a group of people united by a sense of common identity along various grounds (race, gender, religious, professional affiliation, education, place of residence, etc.), and “they” is a group that people perceive as different from and separate from their own.

G. Adorno showed that a hostile attitude towards representatives of other ethnic groups is associated with a certain set of psychological qualities characteristic of the so-called authoritarian personality:

an attitude towards strict respect for intra-group authorities;

excessive preoccupation with issues of status and power;

stereotypical judgments and assessments;

intolerance of uncertainty;

tendency to obey people in authority;

intolerance towards those at a lower status level.

M. Sherif showed in field experiments that a situation of competitive interaction, which is based on an objective conflict of interests, leads to increased manifestations of intergroup aggression, hostility and a simultaneous increase in intragroup cohesion.

Experimental studies of the phenomenon of in-group favoritism (the tendency to give preference to one’s own group as opposed to the interests of another), conducted by G. Tajfel and D. Turner, showed that the mere fact of distributing subjects into groups similar in some insignificant attribute is enough to individuals showed more positive attitudes towards those who were in the same group as them, and more negative attitudes towards those who were in another group.

The social identity theory of G. Tajfel and D. Turner explains the phenomena of in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination (the tendency to establish differences in the assessments of the “in-group” and “out-group”, usually in favor of the “in-group”) as the result of a series of cognitive processes associated with the establishment of similarities and differences between representatives of different social groups: social categorization, social identification and social comparison.

Social categorization is the cognitive process of an individual ordering his social environment by distributing social objects (including the people around him and himself) into groups (categories) that are similar in terms of criteria that are significant to the individual.

Social identification is the process of an individual assigning himself to certain social categories, his subjective experience of his group social affiliation.

Social comparison is the process of correlating the qualitative characteristics of different social groups, the result of which is the establishment of differences between them, i.e. intergroup differentiation.

In-group favoritism and out-group discrimination are the final link in a series of cognitive processes; their inevitability is dictated by the individual’s need for a positive social identity necessary to maintain a positive self-image.

Self-test questions.

1. What functions does communication serve in people's lives?
2. What is the structure and main types of communication?
3. What patterns and effects of social perception do you know?
4. What are the main stages of conflict and strategies for behavior in a conflict situation?
5. What is a small group? What are its specific features?
6. What phenomena of intergroup relations do you know?

Literature.

1. Andreeva G. M. Social psychology. M., 1988. Ch. 5,6,7 and 11.
2. Myers D. Social psychology: Transl. from English V. Gavrilova and others. St. Petersburg, 1997. Chapters 3, 9 and 11.
3. Psychology: Textbook/Ed. V.N. Druzhinina. St. Petersburg, 2003. Ch. 19, 20 and 21.
4. Bodalev A.A. Personality and communication. M., 1983.
5. Shevandrin N.I. Social psychology in education. M., 1995.

Interpersonal perception. The effectiveness of perception is associated with socio-psychological observation. The object of cognition is both physical and social experience person. Mechanisms of interpersonal cognition: interpretation, identification, causal attribution (attributing to the perceived certain motives and reasons that explain his actions and other characteristics), reflection.

Interpersonal relationships are objectively experienced, to varying degrees perceived, relationships between people.

Types of interpersonal relationships:

1) by modality (positive (positive), negative (negative), ambivalent (ambivalent, neutral);

2) by purpose (business, personal);

3) by direction (vertical (different hierarchical levels), horizontal (one level).

Structure of interpersonal relationships:

1) cognitive component (involves awareness of what is liked and disliked in interpersonal relationships);

2) behavioral component (implemented in specific actions. If you like a person, the behavior will be friendly);

3) emotional component(experience, assessment of another person, determined by the sociocultural norms of groups).

Functions of interpersonal relationships, -

1) help to adapt to a new environment;

2) cognitive function (social cognition, knowledge of another person);

3) satisfy a person’s needs for contact with other people.

The main phenomena of interpersonal relationships: 1) sympathy - selective attractiveness. Causes a cognitive, emotional, behavioral response, emotional appeal;

2) attraction - attraction, attraction of one person to another, the process of preference, mutual attraction, mutual sympathy; 3) antipathy:

4) empathy (sympathy, the response of one person to the experience of another). Empathy has several levels. The first involves cognitive empathy. manifested in the form of understanding the mental state of another person (without changing one’s state). The second level involves empathy in the form of not only understanding the state of the object, but also empathy with it, i.e. emotional empathy. The third level includes cognitive, emotional and, most importantly, behavioral components. This level involves interpersonal identification, which is mental (perceived and understood), sensory (empathetic) and effective;

5) compatibility (optimal combination psychological characteristics partners contributing to the optimization of their joint activities) - incompatibility;

6) harmony (satisfaction from communication; consistency of actions).

Relationships are born, strengthened, reach a certain maturity, weakened, and broken. These processes depend on the following criteria:-1) the presence and depth of emotional connections; 2) frequency and intensity of contacts; 3) repeatability of contacts; 4) trust in contacts.

Levels of interpersonal relationships: 1) initial acquaintance; 2) friendly relations (create the basis for further development of relations); 3) companionship (allows you to consolidate interpersonal contact, a convergence of interests occurs, etc.); 4) friendly relations (stable, common interests, goals, etc.); 5) marital.

The manifestations of interpersonal relationships are influenced by gender, age, nationality, temperament, social status, profession, etc.

Interpersonal impact. Methods of influence are a set of techniques that implement influence on: 1) needs, interests, inclinations, i.e. sources of motivation for activity and human behavior; 2) on attitudes, group norms, self-esteem of people, i.e. on those factors that regulate activity: 3) on the states in which a person is (anxiety, excitement or depression, etc.); and which change his behavior.

In interaction a person’s relationship to another person as a subject who has his own world is realized. The interaction of man with man in society is also the interaction of their inner worlds exchange of thoughts, ideas, images, influence on goals and needs, influence on the assessments of another individual, his emotional state.

Interaction, moreover, can be represented as the systematic, constant implementation of actions aimed at causing an appropriate reaction on the part of other people. Joint life and activity, unlike individual life, at the same time has stricter restrictions on any manifestations of activity-passivity of individuals. This forces people to build and coordinate the images of “I-He”, “We-They”, and coordinate efforts between them. In the course of real interaction, a person’s adequate ideas about himself, other people, and their groups are also formed. The interaction of people is a leading factor in the regulation of their self-esteem and behavior in society.

Interpersonal interaction- these are accidental or intentional, private or public, long-term or short-term, verbal or non-verbal contacts between individuals, changes in their behavior, activities, attitudes and attitudes.

Main signs such interaction are:

The presence of a goal (object) external to the interacting individuals, the achievement of which requires mutual efforts,

Explicitness (availability) for observation from the outside and registration by other people,

Reflexive ambiguity is the dependence of its perception on the conditions of implementation and the assessments of its participants.

Dynamics of development interpersonal relationships in time continuum goes through several stages: acquaintance, friendship, comradeship and friendly relations. The process of weakening interpersonal relationships has the same dynamics (the transition from friendly to comradely, friendly, and then the termination of the relationship). The duration of each stage depends on many factors and conditions.

Dating process is carried out depending on the sociocultural and professional norms of the society to which future communication partners belong, as well as on their specific activities and their corresponding social roles.

Friendship form readiness/unpreparedness for further development interpersonal relationships. If the partners have a positive attitude, then this is a favorable prerequisite for further communication.

Companionship allow you to strengthen interpersonal contact. Here there is a convergence of views and support for each other (at this stage such concepts as “act in a comradely manner”, “comrade in arms”, etc.) are used. Interpersonal relationships at this stage are characterized by stability and a certain mutual trust. Numerous popular publications on optimizing interpersonal relationships provide recommendations on the use of a variety of techniques to induce goodwill and sympathy among communication partners.

Friendly relations always have a common subject content - a community of interests, goals of activity, in the name of which friends unite (unite) and at the same time presuppose mutual affection.

Despite the similarity of views, the provision of emotional and activity support to each other, there may be certain disagreements. You can select utilitarian(instrumental-business, practically effective) and emotionally expressive(emotional-confessional) friendship. Friendly relationships manifest themselves in various forms: from interpersonal sympathy to a mutual need for communication. Such relationships can develop both in a formal and informal setting. Friendly relationships, compared to companionship, are characterized by greater depth and trust (Kohn, 1987). Friends openly discuss with each other many aspects of their lives, including personal characteristics communicating and mutual acquaintances. Important characteristic friendly relations is confidence.

Development conditions interpersonal relationships also influence their breadth and depth and largely determine their dynamics. In particular, in urban conditions, compared to rural areas, there is a higher pace of life, frequent changes of places of work and residence, and a high level of public control. The result is a greater number of interpersonal contacts, their short duration and the manifestation of functional-role communication. Therefore, maintaining close interpersonal relationships in the city is associated with a significant loss of personal time, mental overload, material resources, etc. Important in the formation of interpersonal relationships are specific situations in which people communicate. First of all, this is due to the types of joint activities during which interpersonal contacts are established (study, work, leisure), the nature of the situation (usual or extreme), the ethnic environment (mono- or polyethnic), material resources, etc. It is well known that that interpersonal relationships develop quickly in certain places (for example, in a hospital, train, etc.). This phenomenon is apparently due to strong dependence on external factors, short-term joint life activities and spatial proximity. The importance of the time factor in interpersonal relationships also depends on the specific sociocultural environment in which they develop (Ross, Nisbett, 1999).

A favorable prerequisite for the successful development of interpersonal relationships is the mutual awareness of partners about each other, which arises on the basis of interpersonal cognition. At the same time, much is determined by the individual characteristics of those communicating. These include gender, age, nationality, temperament, health, profession, experience in communicating with people and some personal characteristics.

Gender factor This is manifested, in particular, in the fact that women’s social circle is usually much smaller than that of men. In interpersonal communication, they experience a much greater need for self-disclosure, transferring personal information about themselves to others. More often they complain of loneliness. For women, characteristics that manifest themselves in interpersonal relationships are more significant, in contrast to men, for whom business qualities are more significant in life. In interpersonal relationships, the feminine style is aimed at reducing social distance and establishing psychological closeness with people. In friendships, women emphasize trust, emotional support and intimacy. Women's friendships are less stable. Women's friendships are characterized by closeness on a very wide range of issues; discussing the nuances of one's own relationships complicates them. Discrepancies, misunderstandings and emotionality undermine women's interpersonal relationships.

In men, interpersonal relationships are characterized by greater emotional restraint and objectivity. They open up more easily to strangers. Their style of interpersonal relationships is aimed at maintaining their image in the eyes of their communication partner, showing their achievements and aspirations. In friendships, men report a sense of camaraderie and mutual support (Cohn, 1987). With age, people gradually lose the openness characteristic of youth in interpersonal relationships. Their behavior is influenced by numerous sociocultural norms (especially professional and ethnic ones). The circle of contacts especially narrows after young people get married and have children in the family. Numerous interpersonal relationships are reduced and manifested in production and related areas. In middle age, as children grow older, interpersonal relationships expand again. In old age, old friendships play a special role.

Nationality determines sociability, framework of behavior, rules for the formation of interpersonal relationships. In different ethnic communities, interpersonal connections are built taking into account a person’s position in society, gender and age status, membership in social groups, etc. (Triandis, 2006).

The formation of interpersonal relationships is also influenced by some temperament properties. It has been experimentally established that choleric and sanguine people easily establish contacts, while phlegmatic and melancholic people have difficulty. Consolidating interpersonal relationships in pairs of “choleric with choleric,” “sanguine with sanguine,” and “choleric with sanguine” is difficult. Stable interpersonal connections are formed in pairs of “melancholic with phlegmatic”, “melancholic with sanguine” (Obozov, 1979).

External physical disabilities and chronic diseases, as a rule, have a negative impact on the “I-concept” and ultimately make it difficult to form interpersonal relationships. Temporary illnesses reduce sociability and the intensity of interpersonal contacts. Diseases of the thyroid gland, various neuroses, etc., associated with increased excitability, irritability, anxiety, mental instability, etc. - all this seems to “rock” interpersonal relationships and negatively affects them.

Interpersonal relationships are formed in all spheres of human life, but the most stable are most often those that appear in the process joint work activity. In the course of performing functional duties, not only business contacts are consolidated, but also interpersonal relationships emerge and develop, which later acquire a multifaceted and deep character.

Experience of communicating with people contributes to the acquisition of sustainable skills in the development of interpersonal relationships based on social norms regulation with representatives of different groups in society (Bobneva, 1978). Communication experience allows you to practically master and apply various norms of communication with different people and exercise targeted control over the manifestation of your emotions.

The influence on the development of interpersonal relationships is very interesting. self-esteem each of the participants in the communication. Adequate self-esteem allows the individual to objectively assess his or her characteristics and correlate them with the individual psychological qualities of the partner and with the situation, choose the appropriate level of interpersonal relationships and adjust it if necessary. Heightened self-esteem introduces elements of arrogance and condescension into interpersonal relationships. If communication partners are satisfied with this style of interpersonal relationships, then they will be quite stable, otherwise they will become tense. Low self-esteem personality forces her to adapt to the style of interpersonal relationships offered by her communication partner. At the same time, this can introduce a certain mental tension into interpersonal relationships due to the internal discomfort of the individual.

The research also identified personal qualities that hinder the development of interpersonal relationships. The first group included narcissism, arrogance, arrogance, complacency and vanity. The second group includes dogmatism and a constant tendency to disagree with a partner. The third group included duplicity and insincerity (Kunitsyna et al., 2001).

In connection with the analysis of the process of development of interpersonal relationships, it is advisable to consider two more important socio-psychological phenomena: attraction And interpersonal compatibility.

Concept "attraction" is closely related to interpersonal attractiveness. Some researchers consider attraction as a process and at the same time a result of the attractiveness of one person to another; distinguish levels in it (sympathy, friendship, love) and connect it with the perceptual side of communication (Andreeva, 2000). Others believe that attraction is a kind of social attitude in which a positive emotional component predominates (Gozman, 1987). V. N. Kunitsyna understands attraction as the process of preference of some people over others, mutual attraction between people, mutual sympathy. In her opinion, attraction is due to external factors(in particular, the spatial proximity of the place of residence or work of those communicating) and internal, actually interpersonal determinants (physical attractiveness, demonstrated style of behavior, factor of similarity between partners, expression of personal attitude towards the partner in the process of communication) (Kunitsyna et al., 2001).

“Harmonization”, “coherence”, “consolidation”, etc. are used as equivalent words. Interpersonal compatibility is based on the principles of similarity and complementarity. Its indicators are satisfaction with joint interaction and its result. The secondary result is the emergence of mutual sympathy. The opposite phenomenon of compatibility is incompatibility and the feelings it evokes are antipathy. Interpersonal compatibility is considered as a state, process and result (Obozov, 1979). It develops within a spatiotemporal framework and specific conditions (normal, extreme, etc.), which influence its manifestation.

Interpersonal compatibility- this is the optimal combination of psychological characteristics of partners that contribute to the optimization of their communication and activities.

Let us note once again that the formation of relationships, or more precisely, the process of actualization, implementation and development of social and interpersonal relations of interacting subjects is the most important component of communication. When perceiving another person as a representative of a certain social group, performing a certain social role, his communication partner involuntarily actualizes previously formed attitudes towards this group and this role. And depending on the content and nature of these relationships, business and interpersonal communication between these individuals, their cooperation or opposition, develops.

Society does not consist of individual individuals, but expresses the sum of those connections and relationships in which these individuals are with each other. The basis of these connections and relationships is the interaction of people.

Interaction- this is the process of direct or indirect influence of objects (subjects) on each other, giving rise to their mutual conditionality and connection.

It is causality that constitutes the main feature of interaction, when each of the interacting parties is highly dulls as the cause of the other and as a consequence of the simultaneous reverse influence of the opposite side, which determines the development of objects and their structures. If a contradiction is discovered during interaction, then it acts as a source of self-propulsion and phenomena and processes.

In Russian social psychology, interaction usually means not only the influence of people on each other, but also the direct organization of their joint activities, allowing the group to implement common activities for its members. The interaction itself in this case acts as a systematic, constant implementation of actions aimed at causing an appropriate reaction on the part of other people.

Usually a distinction is made between interpersonal and intergroup interaction.

Interpersonal interaction- accidental or intentional, private or public, long-term or short-term, verbal or non-verbal contacts and connections of two or more people, causing mutual changes in their relationships, etc.

The presence of an external goal in relation to interacting individuals, the achievement of which requires mutual efforts.

Explicitness (availability) for observation from the outside and registration by other people.

Situationalism is a fairly strict regulation by specific conditions of activity, norms, rules and intensity of relationships, due to which interaction becomes a rather changeable phenomenon.

Reflexive ambiguity is the dependence of perception on the conditions of implementation and the assessments of its participants.

Intergroup interaction- the process of direct or indirect influence of multiple subjects (objects) on each other, generating their mutual conditionality and the unique nature of the relationship. Usually it takes place between entire groups (as well as their parts) and acts as an integrating (or destabilizing) factor in the development of society.

Currently, in Western science there are many points of view that explain the reasons for human interaction.

The process of human interaction is divided into three main stages (levels).

At the first stage (initial level), interaction represents the simplest primary contacts of people. Between them there is only a certain primary and very simplified mutual or unilateral influence on each other for the purpose of exchanging information and communicating. Due to specific reasons, it may not achieve its goal and not receive further development.

The success of initial contacts depends on the acceptance or rejection of each other by the interaction partners. Differences between individuals are one of the main conditions for the development of their interaction (communication, relationships, compatibility, workability), as well as themselves as individuals.

Any contact usually begins with a concrete sensory perception of the external appearance, characteristics of the activities and behavior of other people. At this moment, as a rule, the emotional and behavioral reactions of individuals dominate. Acceptance-rejection relationships are manifested in facial expressions, gestures, posture, gaze, intonation, and the desire to end or continue communication. They indicate whether people like each other or not. If not, then mutual or unilateral reactions (gestures) of rejection follow.

Contact is terminated.

And vice versa, people turn to those who smile, look directly and openly, turn to the front, and respond with a cheerful and cheerful intonation; to someone who is trustworthy and with whom further cooperation can be developed based on joint efforts.

Of course, the acceptance or rejection of each other by interaction partners has deeper roots.

The first (lower) level is the ratio of individual (natural) and personal parameters (temperament, intelligence, character, motivation, interests, value orientations) of people. Of particular importance in interpersonal interaction are the age and gender differences of partners.

The second (upper) level of homogeneity - heterogeneity (degree of similarity - contrast of participants in interpersonal interaction) is the ratio (similarity - difference) of opinions in the group, attitudes (including likes - antipathies) to oneself, partners or other people and to the objective world (in including joint activities). The second level is divided into sublevels: primary (or initial) and secondary (or resultant). The primary sublevel is the initial correlation of opinions given before interpersonal interaction (about the world of objects and their own kind). The second sublevel is the correlation (similarity - difference) of opinions and relationships as a consequence of interpersonal interaction, the exchange of thoughts and feelings between participants in joint activities.

A large role in the interaction on his initial stage plays the congruence effect, i.e. confirmation of mutual role expectations, a single resonant rhythm, consonance of the experiences of the contact participants.

Congruence presupposes a minimum of discrepancies in the key points of the behavior lines of the contact participants, which results in the release of tension, the emergence of trust and sympathy on a subconscious level.

Congruence is enhanced by the partner’s sense of complicity, interest, and mutual search activity based on his needs and life experience. Congruence may appear from the first minutes of contact between previously unfamiliar partners, or it may not arise at all. The presence of congruence indicates an increased likelihood that the interaction will continue. In this sense, one should strive to achieve congruence from the first minutes of contact.

The experience of belonging that arises:

• when the goals of the subjects of interaction are interconnected;
• when there is a basis for interpersonal rapprochement;
• in the case of subjects belonging to one.

Empathy (emotional empathy with the interlocutor) is realized:

• when establishing emotional contact;
• when the behavioral and emotional reactions of partners are similar;
• if you have the same feelings towards a certain subject;
• when attention is drawn to the feelings of partners (for example, they are simply described).

Identification (projection of one’s views onto the interlocutor), which is enhanced:

• with a variety of behavioral manifestations of the interacting parties;
• when a person sees his own character traits in another;
• when partners seem to change places and conduct a discussion from each other’s positions;
• when referring to previous cases;
• with common thoughts, interests, social roles and positions.

As a result of congruence and effective initial contacts, feedback is established between people, which is a process of mutually directed response actions that serves to support subsequent interaction, during which both intentional and unintentional communication is carried out to another person about how his behavior and actions (or their consequences) ) perceived or experienced.

Feedback happens different types, and each of its variants corresponds to one or another specificity of interaction between people and the establishment of stable relationships between them.

• - in the form of a voice message.
• - carried out through facial expressions, posture, voice intonation, etc.

In the form of manifestation-oriented action, showing another person understanding, approval and expressed in joint.

Feedback can be immediate or delayed in time. It can be bright, emotionally charged and transmitted as a kind of experience, or it can be with minimal experience of emotions and behavioral responses (Solovieva O.V., 1992). In different types of joint activities, different types of feedback are appropriate. The inability to use feedback significantly complicates the interaction of people, reducing its effectiveness. Thanks to feedback during interaction, people become like each other, bring their state, emotions, actions and actions in accordance with the unfolding process of relationships.

At the middle stage (level) of interaction between people, which is called productive joint activity, gradually developing active cooperation finds increasing expression in an effective solution to the problem of combining the mutual efforts of partners.

Usually distinguish three forms, or models, of organizing joint activities:

• each participant does his part of the overall work independently of the other;
• the common task is performed sequentially by each participant;
• There is simultaneous interaction between each participant and all the others. Their actual existence depends on the conditions of activity, its goals and content.

At the same time, the common aspirations of people can lead to clashes in the process of coordinating positions. As a result, people enter into “agree-disagreement” relationships with each other. In case of agreement, partners are involved in joint activities. At the same time, roles and functions are distributed between the participants in the interaction. These relationships cause a special direction of volitional efforts in the subjects of interaction, which is associated either with a concession or with the conquest of certain positions. Therefore, partners are required to demonstrate mutual tolerance, composure, perseverance, psychological agility and others. strong-willed qualities personality, based on intelligence and a high level of personality.

At the same time, at this time, the interaction of people is actively accompanied or mediated by the manifestation of complex socio-psychological phenomena, called compatibility - incompatibility (or workability - incompatibility). Just as interpersonal relationships and communication are specific forms of interaction, compatibility and workability are considered its special constituent elements (Obozov N.N., 1980). Interpersonal relationships in a group and the compatibility (physiological and psychological) of its members give rise to another important socio-psychological phenomenon, which is commonly called “psychological climate.”

• Psychophysiological compatibility is based on the interaction of temperamental characteristics and needs of individuals.
• Psychological compatibility involves the interaction of characters, intellects, and motives of behavior.
• Socio-psychological compatibility involves the coordination of social roles, interests, and value orientations of the participants.
• Social-ideological compatibility is based on the commonality of ideological values, on the similarity of social attitudes (in intensity and direction) regarding possible facts of reality related to the implementation of ethnic, class and religious interests. There are no clear boundaries between these types of compatibility, while extreme levels of compatibility, for example physiological, socio-psychological and socio-ideological climate, have obvious differences (Obozov N.N., 1980).

In joint activities, control on the part of the participants themselves is noticeably activated (self-monitoring, self-checking, mutual monitoring, mutual checking), which affects the performing part of the activity, including the speed and accuracy of individual and joint actions.

At the same time, it should be remembered: the driver of interaction and joint activity is, first of all, the motivation of its participants. There are several types of social motives for interaction (i.e., the reasons for which a person interacts with other people).

• Cooperation - maximizing the total gain.
• Individualism - maximizing one's own gain.
• Competition - maximizing relative gain.
• Altruism - maximizing the gain of another.
• Aggression - minimizing the gain of another.
• Equality-minimization of differences in winnings (Bityanova M.R., 2001).

The mutual control over each other carried out by participants in joint activities can lead to a revision of individual motives for activity if there are significant differences in their focus and level, as a result of which individual people begin to coordinate.

During this process, there is a constant coordination of thoughts, feelings, and relationships of partners in joint life activities. It takes on various forms of influence of people on each other. Some of them encourage the partner to act (order, request, proposal), others authorize the partners’ actions (agreement or refusal), and others call for a discussion (question, reasoning). The discussion itself can take place in the form of coverage, conversation, debate, conference, seminar and a number of other types of interpersonal contacts.

However, the choice of forms of influence is more often dictated by the functional-role relationships of partners in joint work. For example, the control function of a leader encourages him to more often use orders, requests and sanctioning responses, while the pedagogical function of the same leader requires more frequent use of discussion forms of interaction. In this way, the process of mutual influence of interaction partners is realized. Through it, people “process” each other, striving for change and transformation mental states, attitudes and, ultimately, the behavior and psychological qualities of partners in joint activities.

Mutual influence as a change in opinions and assessments can be situational when circumstances require it. As a result of repeated changes in opinions and assessments, their stability is formed; the convergence of positions leads to behavioral, emotional and cognitive unity of the participants in the interaction. This in turn leads to a convergence of interests and value orientations, intellectual and characterological characteristics of the partners.

Under their influence, opinions and relationships of interaction partners change. Regulators of mutual influence are formed on the basis of a deep property of the psyche - imitation. In contrast to the latter, suggestion, conformity and persuasion regulate interpersonal norms of thoughts and feelings.

Suggestion is an influence on other people that they perceive unconsciously.
Conformity is a conscious change in opinions and assessments. Situational and conscious conformity allows one to maintain and coordinate ideas (norms) regarding ongoing events in people’s lives and activities. Of course, events have varying degrees of significance for those who are forced to evaluate them.
Persuasion is a process of long-term influence on another person, during which he consciously learns the norms and rules of behavior of interaction partners.

The convergence or change of mutual points of view and opinions affects all spheres and levels of interacting people. In the context of solving specific current problems of life and activity, and especially communication, their convergence-divergence represents a kind of regulator of interpersonal interaction. If the convergence of assessments and opinions forms a single “language”, group norms of relationships, behavior and activities, then their divergence acts as a driving force for the development of interpersonal relationships and groups.

The final stage ( highest level) interaction is always an extremely effective joint activity of people, accompanied by mutual understanding. Mutual understanding between people is a level of their interaction at which they understand the content and structure of the partner’s present and possible next action, and also mutually contribute to the achievement of a common goal. For mutual understanding, joint activity is not enough; mutual assistance is needed. It excludes its antipode - mutual opposition, with the appearance of which misunderstandings arise, and then misunderstanding of man by man. At the same time, mutual misunderstanding is one of the essential prerequisites for the breakdown of human interaction or the cause of a wide variety of interpersonal difficulties, etc.

An essential characteristic of mutual understanding is always its adequacy. It depends on a number of factors:

• type of relationship between partners (relationships of acquaintance and friendship, friendly, love and marital relationships);
• friendly (essentially business relations);
• sign or valence of relationships (likes, dislikes, indifferent relationships);
• the degree of possible objectification, the manifestation of personality traits in the behavior and activities of people (sociability, for example, is most easily observed in the process of communication interaction).

In adequacy, as accuracy, depth and breadth of perception and interpretation, an important role is played by the opinion, assessment of others more or less significant people, groups, authority figures.

For a correct analysis of mutual understanding, two factors can be correlated - sociometric status and the degree of similarity according to it. In this case, it is necessary to take into account:

• persons who have different socio-psychological statuses in the team consistently interact (are friends) with each other;
• reject each other, i.e. experience interpersonal rejection, heifers, who are similar in status and it is not high enough for them.

Thus, interaction is a complex multi-stage and multifaceted process during which communication, perception, relationships, mutual influence and mutual understanding of people are carried out.

The interaction, as already emphasized, is diverse. An indicator of this is his typology.

Usually there are several ways of interaction. The most common dichotomous division is:

• cooperation and competition (consent and conflict, adaptation and opposition). In this case, both the very content of the interaction (cooperation or competition) and the degree of expression of this interaction (successful or less successful cooperation) determine the nature of interpersonal relationships between people.
• Additional interaction - partners adequately perceive each other’s position.
• Intersecting interaction - partners, on the one hand, demonstrate an inadequate understanding of the positions and actions of the other participant in the interaction, and on the other, clearly demonstrate their own intentions and actions.
• Hidden interaction includes two levels at the same time: explicit, expressed verbally, and hidden, implied. It involves either deep knowledge of the partner, or greater sensitivity to non-verbal means of communication - tone of voice, intonation, facial expressions and gestures, since they convey hidden content.

Interaction is always present in the form two components:

• Content- determines around what or about what this or that interaction unfolds.
• Style- indicates how a person interacts with others.

We can talk about productive and unproductive styles of interaction. The productive style is a fruitful way of contact between partners, contributing to the establishment and prolongation of relationships of mutual trust, the disclosure of personal potential and the achievement of effective results in joint activities.

In other cases, having exhausted the adaptation resources available to them, having achieved some balance and trust in the first stages of development of interaction, people cannot maintain effective relationships. In both cases, they talk about an unproductive style of interaction - an unfruitful way of contact between partners, blocking the realization of personal potentials and the achievement of optimal results of joint activities.

The unproductiveness of an interaction style is usually understood as a specific embodiment in an interaction situation of the unfavorable state of the existing system of relations, which is perceived and recognized as such by at least one of the participants in the interaction.

The nature of activity in the position of partners:

• in a productive style - “next to your partner”, i.e. active position both partners as accomplices in the activity;
• in unproductive - “above the partner”, i.e. the active position of the leading partner and the complementary passive position of the slave’s subordination.

Nature of the goals put forward:

• in a productive style - partners jointly develop both near and distant goals;
• in unproductive - the dominant partner puts forward only close goals, without discussing them with the partner.

Nature of responsibility:

• in a productive style, all participants in the interaction are responsible for the results of their activities;
• in unproductive - all responsibility is assigned to the dominant partner.

The nature of the relationship that arises between partners:

• in a productive style - goodwill and trust;
• in the unproductive - aggression, resentment, irritation.

The nature of the functioning of the mechanism and isolation:

• in a productive style - optimal forms of identification and alienation;
• in the unproductive - extreme forms of identification and alienation.