Anxiety/uncertainty Management - Scope of AUM

Scope of AUM

A theory dealing with communication and culture should specify what is occurring at four levels of analysis and “articulate” how the levels are interrelated: individual, interpersonal, intergroup, and cultural (Doise, 1986). The individual level involves those factors that motivate us to communicate and influence the ways we create and interpret messages (e.g., our needs for group inclusion, self-concept support). The interpersonal level includes those factors that influence our exchange of messages when we are acting as individuals (e.g., intimacy of relationships, social networks). The intergroup level involves the factors that influence our exchange of messages when we are acting based on our groups themselves (e.g., social identities, collective self-esteem). The cultural level involves those factors that lead people to communicate similarly or differently across cultures (e.g., dimensions of cultural variability).

AUM is a theory most appropriate for interpersonal and intergroup levels of communication. All axioms will fit into either the interpersonal category or the intergroup category.

One of the two ways Gudykunst discriminates between interpersonal communication and intergroup communication is examining predictions of behavior. If the behavior can be explained with cultural norms or with sociological norms, it can be classified as intergroup communication. When the behavior is best explained by psychological factors it is likely interpersonal communication. A second effective differentiator is to examine the identities that guide human behavior. When our behavior is guided by personal or human factors, interpersonal behaviors tend to occur. When it is guided by social factors the opposite is true.