Coordinated Management of Meaning Research
By W. Barnett Pearce & Vernon Cronen
By Tony Cooke
The theory of Coordinated Management of Meaning is basically that persons-in-conversation co-construct their own social realities. Also Pearce and Cronen say, that "the joint use of language creates, shapes, and limits the diverse social worlds in which we live, but the coordinated management of meaning theory is still the most comprehensive statement of social construction crafted by communication scholars." These two theorists believe that the CMM theory (coordinated management of meaning) is very important and useful in our everyday lives. People create their own social settings each and every time. Depending on how the interaction goes or how the flow of the conversation ends up. In each case the interaction will be different and the newly constructed social reality becomes inherent.
One aspect of this theory is the curiosity in a pluralistic world. The first of three different areas is called the "Quest for Certainty Versus Exercise of Curiosity." Pearce and Cronen feel that anything less than cold hard "ironclad" certainty is suspect. However they are very interested in how individuals act out their lives in ever-changing conditions.
The second area is called "Spectator Knowledge Versus Participant Knowledge." This is just basically that knowing how to accomplish things or how to communicate is much more important that knowing about accomplishment or communicating. Pearce and Cronen say, "The ultimate goal of theorizing is to gain practical wisdom about how to act."
Finally the last area of this aspect of the CMM Theory is "Social World as Singular Versus Social World as Plural." This is the concept that objects in the social world are made rather than found. Also that there are many diverse people involved it the creating of the social universe, which make the world pluralistic.
These theorists also have concluded that the primary social process of our lives is the experience of persons-in-conversation. All communication is some sort of process of flow. Communication is very vital in our existence and our being. Without this persons-in-conversation concept we would not be a very strongly founded society. A man by the name of Ludwig Wittgenstein said, "Language is the single most powerful tool that humans have ever invented for the creation of our social worlds." I myself truly believe this concept is true because without language, communication would be very limited in today's society.
In the CMM Theory there are basically three parts and they are Coherence, Coordination, and Mystery. These three parts are the foundation behind their entire theory. Coherence is the unified context for the storied told, which means the way in which we present our communication or message to people in the appropriate way for the appropriate setting.
Coordination is the meshing of the stories that we have lived. This is when people try to collaborate what they deem necessary and good and to rid the situations of what they fear or hate. I took this as the process in which we live our lives by our personal experience and go by what we feel is noble and good and shy away from what we despise.
Finally the last area is Mystery. This is "a sense of wonder for stories not yet heard." This is basically what we do not know yet. There is also more to life than our daily existence. Pearce and Cronen also say that all societies that have existed have had stories that include descriptions of the mysterious.
The article that I researched is titled, "The Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory of Pearce, Cronen, and Associates" by Gerry Philipsen. He definitely agrees with these great theorists in their aspects of the Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory. Philipsen says, "CMM is an important theory of human communication for two reasons. First, it treats an important social process, that is, the ways in which individuals achieve in their social interactions with each other, some degree of mutual understanding and acting together toward mutually desirable ends. Second, the work pursuant to the theory has a record of notable successes in research and practical application. CMM is not only a theory but also a research enterprise that encompasses original concepts and propositions, a diverse array of empirical studies, and many examples of successful applications of the approach to important human problems." I totally agree with Philipsen that people need to come to agreement and workout a solution with mutually desirable ends. Also that the CMM Theory has been very helpful and aided in many other successful applications in our every day lives without us even realizing it most of the time.
One such example would be like when we interact in an interpersonal setting and we create our own realities. One way we do this is by certain "inside jokes" or "nicknames" that we have for each other. These things have nothing to do with anyone else they only exist in our own created identity, which we have constructed with others in our circle of friends or our significant other. One social reality that I have constructed in my past is with my friend Matt. He is from Boston and the way in which they talk there sounds different from the way in which we speak here and they use different slang words there. One of the phrases they use is tow truck. I really don't understand the meaning behind the slang term for tow truck in Boston but I thought it was humorous so I started calling him tow truck. Everyone else thought we were weird for this but we thought it was funny. That was one way in which we created our own identity. Matt and I were the only people involved so the nickname tow truck had no meaning to anyone else. So in conclusion the theory of Communication Management of Meaning is something in which we will use in our society indefinitely. Philipsen's article agreed with what Pearce and Cronen had to say. I also agree with the concepts of the CMM Theory. They are relevant in our every day lives and hold true for the future because without this there would be no true communication as we know it.
I feel that this theory is one of the most important ones and if you would like to further your knowledge about this theory and other related theories such as the Information theory of Claude Shannon & Warren Weaver Click here.
Critique from a scientific perspective: Gerry Philipsen,"The Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory of Pearce, Cronen and Associates," in Watershed Research Traditions in Human Communication Theory, Donald Cushman and Branislav Kovacic(eds.), State University of New York-Albany,1995,pp.13-43.
LAST MODIFIED 3/10/00
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