Newly authored by Steven McCornack and Kelly Morrison from scratch, this new  The Essential Guide to Interpersonal Communication is a brief and inexpensive, supplemental text that can be packaged with any of our texts or purchased on its own. It is a good alternative for OER situations either for the interpersonal course or combined with other guides (like The Essential Guides for Group or Intercultural Communication) for larger survey courses.  This edition is fully up--to-date with today’s interpersonal scholarship, includes examples that connect with students’ experience, and includes new self quizzes to engage students in self-reflection.

Steven McCornack

Dr. Steve McCornack is Professor and Basic Course Director in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His scholarly interests include deceptive discourse production and deception detection. Dr. McCornack teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on public speaking, interpersonal communication, relational communication, and language/discourse. He has received several awards for undergraduate teaching excellence, including the Amoco Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award, the Lilly Endowment Teaching Fellowship, and the National Communication Association Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education.

Kelly Morrison

Dr. Kelly McCornack teaches classes on gender, health, instructional communication, and team-teaches interpersonal communication as Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Before UAB, she spent more than 20 years teaching at Michigan State University where she garnered several teaching awards. She enjoys mentoring her McNair Dreams scholars in their summer research opportunities, and she is currently serving as an Honors College Advisor.

Chapter 1: Interpersonal Basics
What is Communication?
           Process
           Method 
           Context 
           Culture
           Channel
           Media
What is Interpersonal Communication?
           Dynamic
           Dyadic            
           Impactful
           Transactional
           Irreversible
           Interpersonal Communication Competence
           Appropriateness
           Effectiveness
           Ethics
Chapter 2: Interpersonal Foundations
Self
           Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
           Self-Disclosure
Perception
           Attributions
           Impressions
           Constructing Gestalts
           Calculating Algebraic Impressions
Emotion
           Feelings and Moods
           Emotional Intelligence
Chapter 3: Interpersonal Skills
Verbal Communication
           Cooperative Language
           Inclusive I and We Language
Nonverbal Communication
           Communicating through Body Movements
           Communicating through Voice
           Communicating through Touch
           Communicating through Personal Space
Listening
           Receiving
           Attending
           Understanding
           Responding
           Recalling
Chapter 4: Interpersonal Relationships
Relationship Foundations
           Liking and Loving
           Exchange of Resources
Relationship Types
           Romantic Relationships
           Family Relationships
           Friendships
Relationship Maintenance
           Positivity
           Assurances
           Self-Disclosure
           Sharing Tasks
Chapter 5: Interpersonal Challenges
Managing Relationship Tensions
Handling Conflict
           What is Conflict?
           Conflict Approaches
           Empathy and Support