Communication Theory’s Seven Traditions

The seven traditions were identified by Robert Craig and this are used to conceptualize
communication problems and practices. The first tradition is the Socio-Psychological which embodies
the scientific or objective perspective. According to this tradition, communication truths can be
discovered through systematic observation. It also uses cause and effect relationship in determining
when a communication will succeed or fail. Theorists in this tradition designs and conducts series of
controlled experiments.

Communication is viewed as information processing in the Cybernetic Tradition. The word

‘cybernetic’ was coined by MIT scientist Norbert Wiener and was used to describe the field of artificial
intelligence. This tradition seeks to answer the question, “How can we get the bug out of the system?” It
can be best explained by using Shannon and Weaver’s Mathematical Model of Communication. The
transmission of information can be affected by noise (bug) that is why the sent message can be different
from the original message.

Rhetorical tradition, on the other hand, views communication as an artful way of public address.
There are features that distinguish this tradition from others. (1) A conviction that speech distinguishes
humans from other animals. (2) It is a setting that allows a single speaker to influence an audience
through explicitly persuasive discourse. (3) Public address delivered in a democratic forum is a more
effective way of resolving political problems than using force. (4) Oratorical training as the cornerstone
of leader’s education. (5) An emphasis on the power and beauty of language to move and stir people to
action. (6) Oral public persuasion as the province of males.

A sign stands for something. Its study is called semiotics. The Semiotic tradition talks about signs
and its functions in communication. Words are special kinds of signs called symbols. Symbols have no
connection with the things they describe. Meaning does not dwell on the word itself, it dwells in people.
Word meaning depends on how it is used in a context.

Socio-cultural Tradition is based on the idea that culture can be produced and reproduced as
people talk. According to Sapir- Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity, the structure of culture’s
language shapes what people think and do. It structures our thoughts of reality. Socio-cultural theorists
assert that “reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed through the process of
communication.”

The critical theory is a product of a group of German scholars known as the ‘Frankfurt School’.
Max Horkheimer, Theodore Adorno and Herbert Marcuse are convinced that “all previous history has
been characterized by an unjust distribution of sufferings.” (the ‘haves ‘continued to exploit the ‘have
nots’). Three features of contemporary society are being challenged by critical theorists: (1) Control of
language to perpetuate power imbalances. (2) The role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression.
(3) Blind reliance on the scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings.

Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue or the Phenomenological
Tradition emphasizes that a person’s experience is more important and authoritative than any other
research hypothesis. Carl Rogers described three necessary and sufficient conditions for personality and
relationship change: (1) Congruence or the matching of the inner feelings and outer display. (2)
Unconditional positive regard or acceptance that is not contingent on performance. (3) Emphatic
understanding or entering another person’s world without prejudice from our own beliefs and values.

A theorist proposed that there must be an eight tradition, the Ethical tradition that focuses on
communication as people of character interacting in just and beneficial ways.

Among the seven traditions, Socio-psychological is the most objective while Phenomenological
tradition is the most interpretive. However, theorists’ ideas about communication cannot be limited to a
specific tradition only. This is why some theories may have features of two or three traditions.