Accuracy in Communication

Accuracy in communication encompasses how well communicators create verbal and nonverbal messages that are understood by others and how well those messages are recognized, comprehended, recalled, and interpreted. Accuracy refers to an objectively quantifiable metric by which the communication that is sent or received can be compared against some objective standard, or what is often referred to as ground truth. For example, if a sender expresses authentic anger, the recipient is accurate to the extent that he or she classifies the expression as anger rather than, say, love or surprise. This entry describes those lines of research specifically conducted under the rubric of general encoding and decoding accuracy. Accuracy can be divided into expression or encoding accuracy, which concerns message production, and judgment or decoding accuracy (also sometimes referred to as sensitivity), which concerns message reception. Accuracy in sending and receiving messages depends on a variety of factors called moderating variables, which include sex or gender, personality, and individual social skills, among other moderating factors. This entry divides moderators between (a) communication and relationship variables such as presence of interaction, expression type, and communication channel and (b) individual difference variables such as gender and personality.

In some very important respects, people are accurate in their communication. When communicating with others, people make sense of situations quickly and with limited information. People interact on a daily basis with others whom they do not know very well or have just met, and they are able to converse and accomplish tasks together with ease. Additionally, people are able to anticipate how well-known others will respond and what they will say in a particular situation. Although the ability to read others varies based on a host of communication and individual difference factors, accuracy in communication and perceptions is frequent and evident in everyday interactions.

Nonetheless, in other ways, communication is very inaccurate. A common axiom in communication textbooks is that the message sent is not the message received. For example, research indicates that people tend to use their own thoughts and feelings to make sense of others' experiences, and they often overestimate the similarity between their own and others' reactions. Every textbook on communication fundamentals enumerates the source, message, channel, receiver, relationship, and context factors that affect the accuracy with which messages are exchanged. Finally, there is evidence that in ongoing relationships, people may not always strive for accuracy; inaccuracy may actually help sustain the relationship. Thus, inaccuracy must be addressed side by side with accuracy.