Communication and Problematic Integration: Understanding Diverging Probability and Value, Ambiguity, Ambivalence, and Impossibility

Abstract

This essay examines the interplay of communication and the basic human need to integrate probabilistic and evaluative orientations. The analysis focuses on communication in four experiences where it is difficult to satisfy the need: diverging probability and evaluation (e.g., unlikely happiness or IiRely sorrow), ambiguity, ambivalence, and impossibility. The aims are to (a) present a rudimentary theory of communication and the problematic integration of probability and evaluation, and (b) establish the significance of the interplay of communication and problematic integration.In so doing, the essay offers a set of ideas that synthesizes and extends understandings of a wide range of communicative phenomena, from the myndane (commiserating on day-to-day concerns) to the momentous (debates about war and peace), from the idiosyncratic (coping styles) to the common (dynamics of attitude change), and from the intimate (parent-child relations) to the mass public (responding to natural disaster).

“It’s not if I get cancer, it’s when I get cancer”: BRCA-positive patients’ (un)certain health experiences regarding hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risk

“…This is in contrast to previous research that indicates uncertainty is caused by lack of information, inconsistent information, or complex information (Babrow, 1992;Brashers, 2001;Mishel, 1988).…”

Uncertainty of Social Network Members in the Case of Communication-Debilitating Illness or Injury

“…Additionally, we see in our findings a reinforcement of the intrinsic link that has been identified between uncertainty and communication (e.g., Babrow, 1992;, albeit in a unique way. Specifically, based on our findings we wish to emphasize the importance of considering therefore, customary methods of managing uncertainty about the illness itself (e.g., seeking information together) may be inadequate or impossible.…”

Por que é que hei de apaixonar-me por um duende, quando também não sou nenhum ogre? As implicações dos avatars virtuais na comunicação digital

“…A presença de grupos cooperativos e competitivos também tem como resultado pistas visuais não verbais nos avatares decorrentes de afiliações de grupo que podem exercer um efeito direto sobre os processos de redução da incerteza. Discorrendo sobre os casos de encontro de avatares de fações opostas num jogo online e da avaliação dos perigos e dos resultados, é possível integrar a abordagem da valência e da ambiguidade de Babrow (1992) (Berger, 2005: 424). Ironicamente, alguns jogos como o World of Warcraft limitam a comunicação verbal no jogo entre fações, o que torna a situação ainda mais problemática.…”