Social Science Theory and its Implications in Communication

Social Science Theory
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Social Science Theory
The social science approach assumes that human behavior is predictable and a definable external reality. Research in sociology and psychology forms the basis of this technique, also known as the functionalist method. In order to better understand and anticipate human behavior, social scientists increasingly rely on quantitative techniques. In the same way that personality influences communication, researchers believe that culture can be measured and influenced in the same way. The goal of social science theory is to predict how culture influences communication. Those who employ this strategy employ quantitative approaches, such as delivering questionnaires or monitoring participants in the field. There are many hypotheses in the social science approach; however, Face Negotiation, Communication Accommodation, Anxiety Uncertainty Management Theory (AUM), and Conversational Constraints are its primary theories. This paper will describe social science theory and how to identify its practical implications within the discipline of communication using the above theories that fall under it, not forgetting some of its strengths and weaknesses.
Face Negotiation Theory
According to scholars’ definition, "face" refers to a person's asserted feeling of good social self-value that they want other individuals to possess (Ting-Toomey & Kurogi, 1998).). Emotional significance is linked to our self-image in the open. It also entails how we wish to be perceived by others through our facial expressions. We can then use this to benchmark how we think everyone else should treat us. A wide range of emotions can be triggered by everyday social interactions, from pride and admiration to shame and embarrassment. Concerns about saving and losing one's face are classified by Ting-Toomey as "face-saving" and "face losing," respectively. Negative and positive faces were previously identified by earlier scholars (Brown & Levinson, 1987). A positive type of face is preoccupied with the desire for recognition from other people.
On the other hand, a negative face focuses on a desire to behave without the interference of others. It is impossible to show both a positive and negative face simultaneously. Therefore, the free-acting of an individual is out of the question since we want to be appreciated by others.
Facework is considered a collection of communication character traits that individuals practice to control their social values and to support or question the dignity of others. Facework comprises specific verbal and nonverbal cues that uphold and recover face loss and honor and respect face gain. When it comes to "framing," or interpreting a given context's face and facework tactics, the meanings of these strategies are culturally distinctive and vary from culture to culture. Individualistic and collectivist cultures were shown to have a wide range of distinctions. An archetypal illustration of the former may be found in the United States, where the emphasis is placed on the "I" identity. In China, the "we" identity has become the norm. According to various research, individualism and collectivi...