Chapter-3

Creation of Healthy and Caring Relationships

Building communication skills (Listening and speaking)
Communication and its essence

• Communication is the art of transmitting information, ideas and attitudes from one person to another.

• Communication is the process of meaningful interaction among human beings.

• Personal process

• Occurs between people

• Involves change in behavior

• Means to Influence others

• Expression of thoughts and emotions through words and actions.

• Tool for controlling and motivating people.

• It is a social and emotional process.

Communication Skills
• Sender: The person who conceptualized the idea and wants it delivered to the recipient.

• Encoding: The way the information is described or translated into a message.

• Message: The idea, fact or opinion that the sender wants to communicate.

• Communication channel: The method of delivering the message.

• Noise or Distraction: Hinders successful communication. Types: Psychological, Physical,

Environmental and Semantic.

• Receiver: The target audience of the message.

• Decoding: The interpretation of the message.

• Feedback: The response or action a receiver takes after decoding a message.

Barriers of Communication

• No interest in the conversation.

• Jumping to conclusions without waiting for the whole message.

• Inability to Listen to Others.

• Lack of Transparency & Trust.

• Communication Styles (when they differ).

• Fear of offending the other person by expressing your opinions.

• Cultural Differences & Language.

• One feels not comfortable sharing your feelings with the other person
Types of Barriers

1. Psychological Barriers

2. Physical Barriers

3. Emotional Barriers

4. Attitudinal Barriers

5. Cultural Barriers

6. Language Barriers

7. Gender Barriers

8. Interpersonal Barriers
How to improve Communication

• Understanding is the KEY to communication.

• Understanding requires ACTIVE LISTENING.

• Speak up about your thoughts and ideas

• Try not to make assumptions

• Practice self-awareness, especially during tough conversations

• Don’t be accusatory when raising an issue

• Be brief and clear

• Eye Contact
Friends and friendship - education
Friend

"a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one
exclusive of sexual or family relations"

• A person who has a strong liking for and trust in another person.

• A person who is not an enemy friend or foe.

• A person who helps or supports something.

• Unconditional Relationship.
Friendship

"Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger

form of interpersonal bond than an acquaintance or an association, such as a
classmate, neighbor, or colleague. "

• It is a dyadic relationship, meaning that it involves a series of interactions between

two individuals known to each other.

• It is recognized by both members of the relationship and is characterized by a bond

or tie of reciprocated affection.

• It is not obligatory; two individuals choose to form a friendship with each other.
Characteristics of Friendship

• It is typically egalitarian (all are equal) in nature. Each individual in a

friendship has about the same amount of power or authority in the
relationship.

• It is almost always characterized by companionship and shared activities.

• One of the primary goals and motivations of friendship is companionship.

• In addition, adolescent and adult friendships often perform other functions,

such as serving as sources of emotional support and providing opportunities
for self-disclosure and intimacy.
Qualities Of A True Friend

• A faithful friend is a sure anchor

• Will always be honest with you.

• Loves you for yourself and unconditional

• Gives more than they take

• Compromises

• forgives you even without an apology.

• believe in you.

• Make time for you.

• Respectful to you.

• Thoughtful. • Stick around you.

Friendship in Education

• They provide support and resources and can both encourage and discourage academic achievement.

• Contribute to a positive sense of mental well-being,

• Encourage learning and develop interpersonal skills

• Play a significant role in promoting overall health.

• Development of Social Skills

• Better Cooperation

• Better Problem solving abilities

• Better Communication

• Better Academic outcomes

How to improve communication in a relationship?

• Always talk about important or sensitive issues face-to-face.

• Be open and honest.

• Find the right time for important conversations Don’t be abusive or verbally aggressive, even if it’s an

emotive issue.

• Approach conversations in a calm and relaxed way, in a quiet environment where both parties are

comfortable.

• Use positive body language.

• Do not communicate via text.

• Choose your language carefully.

The value of relationships and communication
Examples of Bad communication in relationships

• Belittling each other

• Openly giving the cold shoulder

• Becoming defensive in heated discussions

• Assuming you know what the other person is thinking

• Arguments that are never resolved and brushed under the carpet

• Inability to compromise

• Few attempts to connect

Examples of good communication in relationships

• Giving your partner, friend or family member your full attention.

• Giving each other space when needed.

• Face-to-face communication.

• Honesty and openness.

• 24- hour rule – never sleep on an argument.

• Talk about the little things in life.

Relationships for Better or worsening of life
• Satisfying relationships not only make us happy, they also influence our long-term
health as much as getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and not smoking.
• satisfying relationships are associated with better health, greater happiness, and even
longer life.
• Stronger Heart and Healthier Brain
• An unhealthy relationship will cause lot of stress, loneliness and will make us an irritable
person which will work as a retarding force in our way of achieving success.
• While in an unhealthy relationship we lose trust on each other and respect for each other
decreases.
• A healthy relationship have 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative behaviours and a
unhealthy relationship have a much lower ratio of positive to negative behaviours.
Understanding of basic instincts of life (more than a biology)
Three Basis instincts of Human Life
• Self-Preservance
• Sexual Instinct
• Social Instinct.
Self-Preservance
• Self-Preservance : Focused on enhancing and protecting personal safety, security, and
comfort.
• Priorities: Physical well-being, financial security, mental health

• Characteristics: This type tends to be self-sufficient, disciplined, and devoted to self-

improvement. Example: Investing in the future.

• Weaknesses: An unbalanced self-preservation instinct can lead to a preoccupation with

financial and other forms of security and an obsessive relationship with diet and
exercise.
Sexual Instinct
• Sexual Instinct : Sexual instinct is the drive to extend into the environment and
through generations to come.

• Priorities: Intimacy, connection, excitement

• Characteristics: The instinct drives them to create truly intimate connections with
those they love and to connect with love itself.

• Weaknesses: Sexual types practice an exploratory approach to life that can lead to a
lack of focus, as well as neediness and promiscuity.
Social Instinct
• Social Instinct : Focused on creating and maintaining relationships to build a sense
of personal value, accomplishment, and community.

• Priorities: Interpersonal relationships, group participation.

• Characteristics: Healthy social types typically maintain many friendships, feel a

strong sense of social responsibility, and work to protect the group.

• Weaknesses: Social types may develop an antisocial “us against them” attitude in an
effort to determine who’s on their side.
Changing health behaviors through social engineering
Role of social engineering in health behavior changes
• Social engineering involves modifying the environment in ways that effect people’s
ability to practice a particular health behaviour.
• Much behaviour change occurs not through behaviour change programs but through
social engineering.
• These measures are called passive because they do not require an individual to take
personal action.
Examples for Social Engineering
• Wearing seat belts is an active measure that an individual must take to control
possible injury from an automobile accident, whereas airbags, which inflate
automatically on impact, represent a passive measure..
• Banning the use of certain drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, and regulating the disposal of toxic wastes
are examples of health measure that have been mandated by legislation.
• Both smoking and alcohol consumption are legally restricted to particular circumstances and age
groups.
• Social engineering solutions include providing purified water to people.
• Legislations can be passed to make the environment healthier and help people lead more healthy lives.
• The media can be used to influence people towards making healthier choices especially children who
are suggestible and vulnerable to advertising.
• Information resources on health can be made available to all.
• Facilitating development of health habits such as open spaces and parks that encourage people to
exercise, relatively cheap organic fruits and vegetables, minimal marketing of tobacco and alcohol.