How Young People Communicate. A Cuban Perspective E-Book

Eddie Fisher

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2014 in the subject Psychology - Social Psychology, Palacký University Olomouc (Economics), language: English, abstract: This research investigates and provides a deeper insight into what is meant by effective communication, then relates this to how young people in Cuba communicate today and how changes in technology have already affected the communication style of youngsters in this country. The results suggest that face to face communications are diminishing at the expense of digital communications such as SMS and Social Media.This could have adverse affects in future on how well young and older people live and work together in local communities. It is suggested to take proactive steps now to educate young people in the correct use of emerging technology to ensure that they do not lose their ability to communicate effectively with people at all ages in future. Social Psychology has a responsibility to improve the lives of people at all ages. It could become the driving force to educate young people how to make good use of the new technology whilst at the same time trying not to lose existing abilities to communicate effectively with people face to face and with respect. The outcome of this research should also be of interest to other countries. The adverse impact of new technology on how young people communicate is now evident world-wide. Keywords: Face to face communications, technology, social media, attitude, social responsibilities

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Literature Review

1.3 Main Research Questions

2. Research Methodology

2.1 Method

2.2 Data Collection and Interpretation

3. Results

3.1 Literature Review

3.2 Face to Face Interviews

4. Discussion

5. Conclusions

References

Abstract

This research investigates and provides a deeper insight into what is meant by effective communication, then relates this to how young people in Cuba communicate today and how changes in technology have already affected the communication style of youngsters in this country. The results suggest that face to face communications are diminishing at the expense of digital communications such as SMS and Social Media.This could have adverse affects in future on how well young and older people live and work together in local communities. It is suggested to take proactive steps now to educate young people in the correct use of emerging technology to ensure that they do not lose their ability to communicate effectively with people at all ages in future. Social Psychology has a responsibility to improve the lives of people at all ages. It could become the driving force to educate young people how to make good use of the new technology whilst at the same time trying not to lose existing abilities to communicate effectively with people face to face and with respect. The outcome of this research should also be of interest to other countries. The adverse impact of new technology on how young people communicate is now evident world-wide.

Keywords:Face to face communications, technology, social media, attitude, social responsibilities

1. Introduction

1.1  Introduction

The Faculty of Social Sciences at the Universidad de Oriente has been a centre of excellence for social sciences research for many years. The faculty and its work is well-known and respected throughout Cuba. The University wishes to raise its profile and recognition in the area of social sciences and has therefore decided to conduct more research in the form of a research programme to achieve wider local and international acclaims for its future work. It appears that there is a growing need for social sciences to support local communities in Santiago de Cuba on a much wider and more in depth scale.

The University has recognized this opportunity and now wishes to engage proactively in helping communities to benefit from the work of the faculty of social sciences. Theory is important but on its own is not as effective as theory and practice put together. It is the purpose of this research to establish how young people communicate in Cuba today and then discuss and apply ways of practically applying this new knowledge for the benefit of young people within the city limit of Santiago de Cuba. The outcome of this research will be of benefit and interest to academics and the community of practice in any country. This study will report on the outcomes of a literature review for social sciences to confirm whether the stated opportunity exists and how to develop the means to fill this opportunity. The researchers acknowledge that what works well in one country, does not necessarily work equally well in another country. In addition to the literature review, exploratory interviews were conducted to find out how young people think and feel about the topic of concern to the research. These interviews covered a good judgment sample that was truly representative of the target audience for this research. Good communications, for example, in local communities, are essential for the daily lives of people.

Young people play an important role in the development of these communities. With the arrival of new technological advances in areas such as mobile telephony and the Internet, it appears that the way young people communicate today is heavily influenced by this technology. In contrast, people in local communities, particularly older people, are dependent on effective face to face communications as. This is what they are accustomed to. The use of mobile phones and the Internet is more prevalent in younger people. The better people in communities talk to each other, the more effective they can develop as people and together take on the many new challenges daily life brings. This process is important for a number of reasons. It allows members of the community to interact with each other and to work together better so they can complete complex and arduous tasks more efficiently. Experiences can be shared amongst people and so knowledge is passed on from the more experienced to those who are still learning. It fulfils people’s spiritual needs such as being listened to, respected and inspired to try to do things they thought they could not do. In turn, this leads to an increase in people’s willingness and motivation to participate more in community work and projects for the benefit of everyone involved. The benefits of effective communications are not limited to just local community work. They can equally be applied in other contexts such as leisure, work or family.

It appears that personalities of people are positively influenced by how people communicate in that:

 Communications are one road that lead to the formation of people’s personalities in social psychological terms

 They provide consistent emotional intelligence to individuals as well as groups of people

 Good communications are a trademark of active and positive participation that make a contribution to the quality outputs of fellow people

 Effective communications are educational

The researchers applied a constructivist interpretivist approach within a phenomenological research paradigm so they could make a valid and reliable contribution to knowledge that is of value to both academics and practitioners. Fig.1 is a diagrammatical illustration that shows the interrelations between all involved parties in this research. The researchers adopted the following definitions in the context of this research of what makes effective communications: