THE NATURE OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION A Message-Centered Approach

T he first edition of the Handbook of Communication Science included a chapter that focused on definitions and fundamental questions about interpersonal communication (Cappella, 1987). In this handbook's second edition, I continue this tradition. In the sciences, definitions of central concepts (and the models these imply) are core theoretical equipment. Differences in opinion about definitions crop up even in mature sciences, and these disagreements may be healthy, serving as the harbinger of significant conceptual advances. However, a radical lack of consensus about fundamental conceptual matters undermines coherence in research areas, creating confusion and discord. At present, little consensus exists about the meaning of interpersonal communication. This is not a good situation—scientifically, pedagogi-cally, or politically. To address this situation, I propose a new definition grounded in the idea that interpersonal communication fundamentally involves an exchange of messages. Although this notion hardly seems novel, some of the most influential definitions of interpersonal communication