1. Based on the principles of CAT, what suggestions would you offer to a person going on a job interview? Make sure the answer includes key terms (e.g., aspects of convergence and divergence) from the theory along with an example.
Communication Accommodation Theory, thought of by Howard Giles, explains whether or not people are going to accommodate to fit in with others. Accommodation is the “adjustments to communication that decrease social distance” that people do when they meet others — such as changing speech patterns (such as calling soft drinks soda, pop, or coke, depending on where you are regionally) (Griffin, p. 423).
Based on the principles of CAT, there are various different suggestions I could offer a person going into a job interview. For starters, I would advise them to converge with the person(s) conducting the interview, specifically by matching their speech patterns and sense of humor. Convergence is “a strategy of adapting your communication behavior to become more similar to another person” (Griffin, p. 424). Matching speech patterns with others makes them comfortable with you — mainly because it shows they are similar. And having a similar sense of humor is beneficial for the same reasons. On the other hand, there also needs to be divergence in a job interview. Divergence is “a communication strategy of accentuating the differences between you and another person” (Griffin, p. 425). In a job interview, you must change your body language to show you are less powerful than the interviewer, and you need to accentuate the differences between you and the interviewer. Showing the differences, especially the good ones, can show what unique things you can bring to the workplace. In addition, showing through your body language that you are different from the interviewer is beneficial because it shows that they have power, and you will not cause any issues by trying to make yourself at the same level of power.
Over the summer, I had about three job interviews before I finally got hired at my job. At the time of all the interviews, masks were not a requirement for people who were vaccinated. Still, I brought my mask with me to the interview, deciding to wear it if I noticed that the people interviewing me were also wearing theirs. In this instance, I was converging to fit the actions of the interviewer to hopefully improve my chances of getting hired.
3. Consider the concepts: face and facework. Share a time that you either a) felt your face was threatened and the face strategies or face-giving strategies the person used to help you maintain your face or b) felt someone else’s face was threatened and the face strategies or face-giving strategies you used to help the person maintain his/her/their face.
Face-Negotiation Theory, thought of by Stella Ting-Toomey, “describes the diverse styles of conflict management used by people from different cultures” (Griffin, p. 436). In this, there are two different concepts: face and facework. Face is “the projected image of one’s self in a relational situation” and facework is “specific verbal and nonverbal messages that help to maintain and restore face loss, and to uphold and honor face gain” (Griffin, p. 436). When you think of the phrase, “save face,” think of this theory.
Back in high school, I had a tight knit group of friends, but by the time we were in senior year, it kind of all fell apart. A big reason why is because one of them (R) started dating the other's (S) ex-boyfriend (K). When this happened, R and K began spreading rumors about S, all of them being lies. I wanted to remain friends with R and S, so I attempted to conduct facework, to save face of R and S. By doing this, I used the integrating strategy. Integrating is “problem solving through open discussion; collaboration for a win–win resolution of conflict” (Griffin, p. 440). I talked to both R and S, hoping to get them to talk to each other and figure everything out. I was trying to restore S’s face loss through the rumors the R and K spread, and restore R’s face loss through getting with a friend’s ex and then spreading rumors about that friend.
4. Keeping in mind your answer to Q3, use CAT (e.g., aspects of convergence and divergence) to explain either a face-restoration or face-giving facework strategy you used or someone else used. How/why did CAT influence your decision to use that facework strategy?
Based on the answer to Q3, I mainly used divergence when doing the face-restoration strategy. I wanted to make myself different from both S and R, mainly to try and give myself power over both of them during this situation. Again, using the integrating strategy, I problem-solved while also making myself more dominant while talking to the two of them separately.
CAT influenced my decision to use that facework strategy because I knew I needed to be separate from them rather than similar to them when I was talking to them. I needed to set myself apart, and diverge, to give myself that bit of power. Having that bit of power made using that facework strategy easier and actually work.
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