Interpersonal Communication: Competence and Contexts prepares students to communicate successfully in today's fast-paced and complex society through the implementation of a unique competence-building model. This highly readable text provides the theories, concepts, and applications in a pedagogically sound format based on a model of communication competence made up of three elements: motivation, knowledge, and skill. Studying interpersonal communication through this distinct framework will provide a foundation for students' motivation to communicate competently, increase their knowledge about...

Understanding Everyday Incivility delves into the day-to-day annoying behaviors that color our interactions with other people, such as the use of crude language in public, family members who claim that they're "just teasing" and we're "too sensitive," coworkers who constantly interrupt us, and inflammatory remarks posted on social media sites. Shelley D. Lane explores what is considered uncivil behavior, why we label some acts as crude or selfish while others are deemed polite and proper, and how these labels often change from one context to the next. She highlights the power dynamics at play...