Adaptation Theory

The adaptation theory states that people adapt to communication behaviors. This is something that we never really think about while we are talking to someone, but while learning about this in class, you tend to notice that you do change based on the energy that the other person is giving you. Three examples of this that I noticed recently are when I was talking to my brother, my friend, and my manager.

           

I had not seen my brother for a couple days and really missed him. Although we attend the same schools and live about 6 minutes away, we rarely see each other because we both have very busy schedules. When I finally had a chance to see my brother, we never are very touchy with each other but I did miss him and was happy to see him. When I saw him he was very normal, but I was excited to see him. He did not have a smile on his face but I was smiling and ran to give him a hug. When he noticed how happy I was to see him, he hugged me longer and tighter because by me showing how much I missed him, he felt that he needed to express to me how much he had missed me also.

Another conversation that I had was with my classmate. We did not really talk much, but had many classes together. We always looked at each other but neither of us said a word, because I looked like I was not interested in getting to know her, and so she looked the same toward me. One day we actually sat near each other. I had no interest in speaking to her, because I felt like she did not have any interest in talking to me. She actually smiled at me and said “hi,” I smiled back and adapted to her attitude. I found that she was a very nice person and we talk every class.

One final conversation happened at work. I just started a new job and don’t really know any of my employees. I find that my managers are very strict and informative my first few days. I notice that I seem lost and confused which is why they make sure that they state exactly what they mean. I used to stand very far away from them and never really talked to anyone. One day I went to work determined to make friends with my managers because I saw that many of my other coworker had a great time speaking to the managers. I went to work and stood a little closer to them and smiled, I saw that their attitudes towards me immediately change and they are more open to make jokes around me and have me do other things for them.