Interpersonal relations education: Perspectives from psychology and communicology

Little research exists that profiles the philosophies and methodologies of interpersonal communication and human relations instruction on the college level. In an attempt to provide such information, research was initiated with a historical overview of the disciplines and an analytical organization of theoretical literature and research hypotheses. Data was collected by a questionnaire mailed to respondents in the Northeast United States. The population consists of 38 instructors of interpersonal communication from undergraduate departments of communication and 43 instructors of human relations from undergraduate departments of psychology.;Summary of results. (1) The communication instructors are interested in teaching theory while the psychology instructors try to provide an experience that initiates personal growth. Consequently, the psychology instructors view their course as unique in the context of college coursework due to its more experiential structure. Still, both groups agree that they are teaching "real life" interpersonal skills. (2) Psychology teachers more than the communication teachers encourage emotional processing in the classroom and see some parallel between their class and group counseling. Further, psychology teachers more often report witnessing emotional disturbances during or incited by class. (3) Both groups used similar texts, methods and materials. (4) The communication instructors complain that there is too much content to cover while the psychology teachers feel that a large class size and resistance from students interferes with the goal of cultivating self-awareness. Although the majority of both groups self identify as "eclectic", psychologists favor humanism while the communication group shows more interest in constructivistic, rhetorical and systems-based orientations. (5) Communication instructors rely on textbooks and articles to prepare to teach in contrast to the psychology instructors' more clinically based and experiential means. Communication instructors feel an advanced degree is an important prerequisite whereas the psychology instructors favor the skill of managing groups. Psychology teachers more than communication teachers attempt to model skills, note that their competence is challenged at times and feel an obligation to learn to manage a psychological crisis. (6) Additional correlation studies performed on the whole sample uncovered significant patterns of response independent of instructional affiliation.