Consequentiality is a framework for understanding the features and dynamics of the communication process that enable it to have an impact on social and cultural life. It focuses attention on the continuous production of behavior by communicators, the coordination required as each communicator adjusts to the unfolding scene or situation, and the meanings that arise in and through this process. Consequentiality serves as a contrast to alternative frameworks that study the effects of particular behavioral acts (“independent variables”) on other behavior (“dependent variables”) or the effects of mental or emotional states on behavior.

The consequentiality framework acknowledges the contingent and unpredictable quality of communication. The behavior communicators produce at any one time is dependent on what else is happening in the immediate circumstances: what all the participants have contributed to the scene up to that point; what is occurring simultaneously; and participants’ calculation of what might happen next in the sequence to confirm, clarify, or even reshape the meaning and direction of the event. However, unpredictability does not mean that the communication process occurs randomly. Rather, it is recognition of communicators’ ability to deploy selectively various resources for behavior (e.g., language, cultural expectations, social obligations) and, in doing so, to bring order and meaning to each unique communication event. Thus, the framework posits that the communication process makes use of cultural, psychological, and social resources but is a phenomenon sui generis, requiring its own explanations.

Littlejohn, Stephen W and Karen A.Floss. (2009). Encyclopedia of Communication Theory.USA:SAGE.654

Penanggungjawab naskah :

Gayes Mahestu
Edwina Ayu Kustiawan