12: Power and Communication
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What comes to mind when you think of power? Is having power over others a good or a bad thing? What about others having power over you? Like most people, your answer is likely influenced by the amount of power you personally perceive yourself to have and the ways in which the power others possess has affected your life. While power isn’t inherently good or evil, it is important to understand and recognize how power dynamics shape our life choices, interactions, and relationships with others in significant ways. In this chapter, we will define what power is, describe its principles, and discuss various types of individual and persuasive power. We will also address communication competence and strategies for communicating effectively in situations where we feel less powerful, examine the link between co-culture, culture, and power, and reflect on some common ways in which power is misused in relationships.
Successful students will be able to: