We explain what the 5 axioms of communication are, who identified them and how each of them describes communication.
What are the 5 axioms of communication?
It is known as the five axioms of human communication to the five guiding principles identified by Austrian philosopher and psychologist Paul Watzlawick (1921-2007) in his theory of communication between human beings.
In this theory, framed in the so-called “international approach”, Watzlawick proposed that human communication operates as an open system, both with regard to language and what is not, and that it has five major common and main features, which These are called “axioms”.
As is known, Communication can be defined as the exchange of information between living beings whether through sign systems (that is, languages) or other more primitive mechanisms. Communication is a universal feature of all forms of life, which even occurs between your organs and the different parts of your body. Living, from this point of view, is necessarily communicating.
The five axioms of human communication, according to Watzlawick's studies, are detailed below.
1. It is impossible not to communicate
Any form of behavior involves communication of certain content, whether voluntarily or not. That is, everything we do transmits various forms of information to those around us, whether it is information that we expressly wish to communicate, or not.
Since there is no possibility of not acting in life, that is, of having non-behavior, it is possible to affirm that we find ourselves continuously and constantly transmitting information to our environment.
A simple example of this is found in involuntary forms of communication, such as body posture. A person can remain silent about their opinion or feelings about something that happens or something they are told, trying not to communicate it verbally; But your body, your way of moving or your gestures can betray that intention and communicate to others what you feel or what you think.
But suppose that someone trains himself to contain even that type of gesture, adopting the most neutral posture that is possible for a human being: even in that case he will be transmitting that neutrality, that is, he will be communicating information, even though that information is nothing more than the concealment of your emotions and thoughts.
In conclusion: there is no way not to communicate.
2. All communication is a meta-communication
This statement means that whenever we communicate, we not only transmit the information we want to give, but also other information. information that has to do with other aspects that concern the communication itself and they have to do with the way the message should be interpreted.
That is, when we transmit a message, we also transmit information about the message itself, and about the way in which we are transmitting it. Hence the use of the prefix “meta”, which means “beyond” or “in itself”: a metacommunication is a communication about the communication itself.
Watzlawick proposed thinking about this second axiom based on the identification, in every communicative act, of a “level of content” and a “level of relationship”, understanding that the latter classifies the first.
That is, on the one hand there is the message transmitted and on the other there is the meta-message: the relational information about the message, who issues it, in what way, etc. This is important since The receiver of the information will always interpret it depending on their relationship with the sender (that is, their level of relationship).
We have a simple example of this in certain expressions, which depending on who they come from can be interpreted in different ways. For example, if a friend tells us “I'll let you know” regarding information we need, we are likely to interpret that as a promise, given that affection and trust allow us to take his words as true.
If, on the other hand, a stranger tells us, that “I'll tell you” can be interpreted as something said to get out of trouble, so that we leave him alone and it is unlikely that we trust the veracity of that information. Thus, the same sentence (content level) has two different relational interpretations (relation level).
3. All communication is bidirectional and simultaneous
Since each of those involved in an act of communication structures and interprets the information in a different way, both feel at the same time that they are reacting to the other's behavior, when in fact they are continuously providing feedback.
So, Human communication cannot be understood in terms of cause and effect, but as a circuit communicative that advances in both directions, expanding and modulating the exchange of information.
To understand this axiom, let's think about the first one on the list, which assumes that we are communicating all the time. Thus, even when we listen to someone speaking to us, and we have our attention focused on their emission of verbal information, we are at the same time communicating to them what we think about what they say through our gestures, the way we listen to them and our body language.
4. Communication is digital and analog
According to Watzlawick, all forms of human communication involve two simultaneous modalities of meaning formation, which are:
- Digital communication (what is said), that is, the “objective” content of the message emitted, that which concerns directly and only the words. If we say to someone “what an intelligent comment,” the digital modality is limited to exactly what was said: that a comment is intelligent to us.
- analog communication (how do you say), that is, the “subjective” content of the message emitted, what has nothing to do with the words, but with the enunciation, the context, the very way in which we say it. If we say to someone “what a smart comment” with a smile and sincere attitude, it's probably because we genuinely mean it; But on the other hand, if we do it with an air of indifference or a sarcastic smile, especially after he has said something irrelevant or banal, we are ironically wanting to tell him the opposite: that he has said something stupid.
5. Communication can be symmetrical or complementary
Finally, Watzlawick identifies two possibilities for the functioning of human communication, depending on the relationship established between the individuals who exchange information. These possibilities are:
- Symmetrical communication that is, proportionate and tending to equalization, when it occurs in exchanges of information between individuals who assume reciprocal behavior: one person strongly criticizes another, and the latter in response strongly criticizes them. Individuals communicate by establishing the same relationship from one side to the other, assuming the same posture.
- Complementary communication that is, integrative, which tends to incorporate an individual into the communicative dynamics of the other, thus establishing a relationship of authority between the parties: one person assumes an accusatory role in the communication and the other person assumes the role of the accused, or one assumes a violent role and the other a victim role. Individuals communicate by establishing a disparate relationship between one side and the other, but one could not exist without the other.
Continue with: Verbal and non-verbal communication
References
- “Paul Watzlawick” at https://es.wikipedia.org/
- “The axioms of human communication” (video) in Online Education Management. https://www.youtube.com/
- “Communication” by Mariela Passarello at https://www.en-causarpsi.com.ar/
- “The 5 axioms of communication” at https://www.mediaimpact.pe/ (Peru).
