Layers of Joint Commitments in Interpersonal Communication

We propose a theory of communicative interactions based on the idea that it is constitutive of interpersonal communication to create and manage a fragment of social reality. We define such a fragment in terms of joint commitments of the interactants, and analyze how these commitments are made in a conversation. We distinguish between three layers of joint commitments: those that regulate the embedding activity of the conversation; those that constitute the joint meaning of communicative acts; and those that concern the target of the conversation. We argue that joint commitments are created in a concrete situation by producing and negotiating interpersonal affordances, which allows the interactants to retain suitable freedom of movement. Finally, we analyze some relationships between our conception of communicative acts and illocutionary acts.