Honesty as Ethical Communicative Practice

Abstract

Abstract Honesty is a central concept in interpersonal communication ethics, typically studied through the lens of self-disclosure in close relationships. Expanding the self-disclosure construct to encompass multiple types of messages occurring in public and private relationships offers additional insights. Across relational contexts, at least two aspects of human communication are relevant to honesty: the content dimension, which references factual information carried by a message; and the relationship dimension, which provides the implied stance or attitude toward the other and/or the relationship. This dimension provides interpretive nuance for the content dimension, its implications for honesty shaped by culture and context. This chapter considers five themes relevant to communication research—self-disclosure and restraint, Grice’s theory of conversational implicature, message design logic, communication competence, and civility, authority, and love—and explore the implications of each content area for honesty in human relationships.

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