The three processes of Communication

But intrapersonal communication precedes all other forms of communication as it is at the base of the human element in all models of communication.

Messages are constructed by people --- persons and groups living in a given socioeconomic, political and cultural environment.  They are conceived in the minds of those persons.  And they are received by persons who too utilize their mental faculties in processing and absorbing the information contained in the messages.

The mental faculties of the creators (senders, receivers, communicators in the conventional model of communication) and the recipients (audience, destination, communicates) may not be on the same wavelength as their intrapersonal processes differ.  The latter (intrapersonal processes) depend on the cultural (socioeconomic, religious, educational, occupational) traits as well as personality traits (which are not easily quantifiable).

If the cultural and personality traits of millions of people living in a given society are far below those of the creators of messages, the communication gap in such societies is of very serious consequence and proportion.

We may use the most sophisticated equipment and techniques (IT, BPO, e-commerce, etc.) but the gap between the elite and the masses will continue till such time the intrapersonal processing of the information in the minds of the masses is elevated.

Putting the whole attention on the creation of message, the message itself, the channels and the sophisticated  recipients (receivers) of the message, without giving due attention to the intrapersonal processing of information/message by the masses is a serious omission in all the existing models of communication.

There are different levels of social and personal organization at which human communication takes place.  MC is only one form of human communication although it is more mechanical, electrical, electronic, and business-oriented than interpersonal communication.

According to Denis McQuail, mass communication is at the apex of a pyramidal distribution whose base is formed by intrapersonal communication.

Though technically society-wide, MC is limited in a way because of socioeconomic factors operating in society and technical competence and organizational availability and facilities in society. But communication is universal.  Intrapersonal factors---physiological, psychological, historical, economic  and sociological factors--- influence the working of a person’s mind.