What is interpersonal relationship?

The human being is, by nature, a social being, that is, who needs relationships and contact with people. However, it is not always easy to live with people of different personalities, tastes, opinions and concepts. And that's where the interpersonal relationship comes in, which is nothing more than the bond and connection that each person makes with other people.

This connection can be with people from the family cycle, the cycle of friendships, the work environment, religious, etc. And, in this article, you will understand in a deeper way what are interpersonal relationships, how they interfere in your life and in the environments and relationships that you have, and how to improve the relationships in your company and corporate environment. Good reading!

Meaning of interpersonal relationship

The interpersonal relationship goes far beyond the connection between two or more people. It is based on a series of norms and has many characteristics, types and components. Check out, below, the importance of a good interpersonal relationship and its main definition.

Definition of interpersonal relationship

The interpersonal relationship, according to psychology and sociology, is the relationship between two or more people, and may be inserted in family, school, work or community contexts. This is a relationship that implies a set of behavioral norms that direct how these interactions between members of society should happen.

Interpersonal relationships can be marked by different feelings, such as love, compassion, friendship and other shared values. But they can also be marked by disputes, hatred, conflicts, enmities, fights and other conflicts that may occur in certain situations.

The importance of good interpersonal relationships

There is no one who can live alone, because even those who live alone need other people to attend to their needs, their food and other important services, besides the need for their own relationships with other people and the building of important ties. We need to have someone to count on, and that is why interpersonal relationships are so important.

If we treat people with respect and cordiality, the same returns. With these ties formed, it is possible to approach certain groups, get good opportunities, have nice people nearby and always have someone to turn to when necessary. For this, it is necessary to interact with people. This is not an exchange, but the human nature of always needing to be accompanied.

Interpersonal relationship and intrapersonal relationship

If the interpersonal relationship is the connection with other people and the experience with human beings completely different from us, the intrapersonal relationship is the way we relate to our own feelings and emotions.

It determines how each person acts when confronted with daily situations - issues that can be very good or very bad. For the person to have a good intrapersonal relationship, it is important to have as allies the self-knowledge, and always try to exercise self-control, self-assertion and self-motivation.

Something important to think about is that this construction does not happen overnight, but is something that should be a concern throughout life, after all, the stimuli change, we evolve and with this, we end up modifying our needs.

Types of interpersonal relationship

Each way of relating, whether with a person or with a certain group, has its own unique way, existing its own particularities of the relationship built. However, we can divide the interpersonal relationship into three types. Check in the next topics what they are.

Personal interpersonal relationship

This is the type of relationship that is present since our first days of life. These are the relationships that we build through some blood ties, upbringing or common interests. Some examples are the bond with the family itself, friendships built, schoolmates, college, work or even a love relationship.

Because it is a type of relationship that is present from the time we are born, it has a great influence on the formation of our personality, how we relate to the world, values and even personal tastes.

Professional interpersonal relationship

The professional interpersonal relationship focuses on the type of relationship from the construction of ties aimed at professional projects or something in the corporate field, ie, is one that occurs in the business world and is growing increasingly in companies, for many times, productivity is related to the fact that the person works in a more harmonious and fluid environment.

The relationship is directly linked to the culture that a given company has. The human resources sector is in charge of building a relationship between the company's culture and the employee who wishes to hire, as well as managing the company's relationship with the employee who already has a bond.

Virtual interpersonal relationship

With the increasing popularization of the internet, this type of relationship is becoming more frequent nowadays. It is the type of relationship that is built through the bonds created by social networks, online games, forums or internet communities, or even dating apps. Many times, this type is related to leisure aspects practiced by the person.

Generally, this relationship tends not to have a deepening (like a relationship focused on the physical world). However, as time goes on, people are placing more value on relationships built through the digital medium - even building professional relationships or starting a long-lasting love relationship.

Basic components of the interpersonal relationship

In order to characterize an interpersonal relationship, it is necessary to have three very important components. These are the self, the other person, and the environment that connects one person to the other. In the following topics, we will talk more about these three components.

The "I"

Here our essence and our will that drives behavior comes in. An important role is our desire to want to relate and share our experience with others.

By nature, human beings need the building of a relationship with other people, for the very nature of life and dependence makes for a minimal relationship. However, for there to be a deepening, self-interest in opening up to build a greater connection is necessary.

The other

An interpersonal relationship does not exist through a single person. Therefore, for an interpersonal relationship to exist you need the participation of another person, who creates that connection between you and her.

As an example, here can enter a friend, a relative, a co-worker, a new girlfriend etc. That is, it is essential that there is another person to consolidate an interpersonal relationship.

The environment

When an interpersonal relationship is built, be it virtual, professional or personal, what characterizes the emergence of this relationship is the environment. For there to be a rapprochement between two people there had to be a place that was an unusual point for them to start creating a connection.

However, the environment would be the place that brings us closer to the other person (such as work, school, college, or one's own home).

Pillars of interpersonal relationships

To be able to build a healthier interpersonal relationship, there are some important pillars that help in the formation of these relationships. Pillars that, if observed and practiced with affection, can help you build healthier relationships. Check out what the pillars are below.

Self-knowledge

Knowing your own emotions, desires and wishes is an important step to build a more solid self-development. Taking into account that the emotions we feel reflect a lot on the relationships we create, self-knowledge becomes a pillar that helps to bring more solidity to the relationships achieved.

Those who do not know themselves, end up not knowing how to relate to themselves, reflecting on the relationships that appear on the way. The lack of self-knowledge ends up giving strength to explosive, mistaken, aggressive and offensive attitudes - which ends up favoring criticism and arguments.

Besides worsening our relationship with self-image, causing some reactions practiced by others to be taken as something personal, making it difficult to resolve conflicts.

Suitability for the environment

It is important to select the interactions during relationships according to the environment. That is, depending on the environment in which the relationship is built, there are different levels of closeness and intimacy. For example, in a work environment what predominates are more formal interactions, and a little more distant, in order to focus on the clarity of negotiations, tasks and routine itselfprofessional.

This does not mean that you cannot become friends with a person you work with, but that you should look for clear limits for relationships in that environment that must be respected during the workday. Each environment generally has its rules and exceptions.

Assertive communication

Focusing on simplicity when communicating will help you avoid big noises when trying to convey something to a person. Being open to receiving feedback and passing it on in a lighter way goes a long way in helping you understand yourself and the other person.

Being aware and trying to build an assertive communication is essential to maintain a healthier relationship, because this way, you can express your feelings in a more human way, without lying to yourself and to the other.

A parallel alternative is the non-violent communication that aims to add more lightness to the speeches, thus avoiding misinterpretations, increasing the chances of the relationships being more pleasant and true.

Empathy

For many people, developing empathy is considered complex, as it is not an easy task to put yourself in the other's shoes. However, this competence can be learned throughout life for those who are interested. It is a tool that greatly enhances the quality of human relationships.

If you understand that, what is different ends up enriching humanity, you end up coming to the conclusion that thinking or acting differently is very beneficial to arise new possibilities. That is, empathy is capable of adding knowledge and perceptions, thus contributing to more harmonious relationships.

Ethics

When we talk about ethics, something related to the professional field comes to mind. However, trying to build ethical relationships means taking into consideration your own values and the other person's, bringing benefits to all.

When well directed to the sets of principles and moral values, it is possible to seek the valuation of important attributes for a relationship such as respect, honesty and transparency, thus generating mutual trust. That is, by creating a relationship in which there is trust on the part of both people, this relationship becomes much lighter and healthier.

Kindness

Trying to adopt a kind attitude towards relationships can open doors for both professional and personal aspects. Do you know that saying "kindness begets kindness"? Well, kindness is key to understanding how a kind attitude can help build healthier relationships.

A healthy relationship, many times, is built through a perception before the details and the care with the other. That is, a relationship ends up feeding by details, and being kind is to pay attention to things that often seem harmless, but that make total difference at the end of a day.

Therefore, building environments and relationships where kindness prevails can make individuals feel more important being in that place.

Advantages of the professional interpersonal relationship

Developing a healthy interpersonal relationship can generate great advantages for both the owner and the employee of a company. We list some of these advantages below, check in the next topics.

Improved results

If you think that the most important basis for a company to function is that there are people engaged and to achieve this engagement the relationships need to be healthier so that everything works well, by developing a healthy interpersonal relationship can bring better results for both company and employee.

When you work in an environment where you feel good with the relationships that are made in it, automatically the person tends to feel more motivated before the variations of situations that the professional environment provides. Consequently, the results that this employee can present, will impact directly on the company's results.

Increased productivity

A company that seeks to invest in interpersonal relationships has higher productivity of its employees, because the positive psychological atmosphere ends up increasing motivation and raising the performance of professionals.

With this, the employee himself being recognized for his great performance ends up feeling motivated and with more pleasure to be dedicating his time and effort for that company he chose, increasing his degree of job satisfaction.

Improvement of the organizational climate

When a company is concerned about developing healthier interpersonal relationships, it is clear that this attitude, little by little, will spill over into the climate of that organization. By valuing this aspect as something cultural, this will gain substance and directly impact the climate of the company.

A company that cultivates this attitude ends up offering a more harmonious environment to employees who, in turn, end up becoming more productive and motivated within the company.

More efficient communication

A healthy relationship ends up reflecting in a more efficient communication. All this avoids internal or external noises in the company's communication. Taking into account that it is through communication that we are able to express our needs, by having a more developed interpersonal relationship, this communication becomes increasingly assertive.

However, having more efficient communication will provide better results and greater satisfaction for a company's employees, thus creating an organic and more human system.

How to improve interpersonal relationships in the company

Taking into consideration all the advantages that one can have when developing a healthy interpersonal relationship within a professional environment, below we will list some attitudes that you can start practicing to improve your interpersonal relationship.

Put yourself in the other person's shoes

By knowing that each person has their own unique way of dealing with life situations, you come to understand how important it is for a healthy relationship when we care about the other person's worldview. Often, wanting to be the owner of the reason is to stop learning more by closing yourself off to new possibilities.

Therefore, when we care about understanding the other person's point of view, we increase the chance of creating more connection with them, generating a healthier relationship. The process of relating becomes easier when we also turn our attention to the other person's needs.

Adapt your approach

When you seek to understand how your message reaches a particular person, you start to pay attention to the impact your message has when communicating. Often, that impact is generated through the way you express yourself. Opting for non-violent communication can be a great alternative to being more precise when approaching a person.

This way, people tend to pay more attention and value even more what you have to say. Therefore, worrying and adapting your way of approaching someone will help you to achieve healthier relationships every day.

Manage the first three minutes

When you start a conversation with someone, it is normal to try to talk more about yourself, or to judge and jump to conclusions about what the other person says. Starting by listening more to the person rather than having a judgmental attitude can help you understand more about them.

So, in the first three minutes when you initiate contact, try to give the person more space to speak. Keep in mind that they probably had some reason to come to you or act in a certain way. Besides, listening more will help you have a more assertive communication.

Listen actively

Creating the skill of active listening will impact the relationships you set out to build. When you are willing to listen more carefully to what others are saying, you help bring better solutions to problems, increase your awareness of empathy, and consequently build truer relationships.

In addition, active listening is a tool that makes it possible to improve the relationship precisely by being able to go deeper into a conversation. It is an opportunity to provide the person with a more genuine listening, so that he or she does not fear being misunderstood.

Talk more about yourself

Every human being has a vast amount of experience in life. The older you are, the greater your baggage of experiences. Valuing your own baggage and sharing it with others will increase the degree of connection points. If you think that people connect and learn through stories, everything you have lived, and shared, can make your relationships healthier and truer.

Keep in mind that every person is built through strengths and foibles, and that sharing your experience with them and how you feel about situations is a pretty smart way to approach other people. So don't be afraid to share your own journey.

Manage non-verbal language

When we talk about communication we cannot forget the non-verbal language. Many times, our body ends up expressing much more than we imagine, that is, our posture usually says a lot, even more than words.

Facial expression, arm position and where we look are some examples of non-verbal communication, and end up transmitting messages to other people. Therefore, it is very important that you stay alert, trying to keep calm during a conversation, besides doing your best to look into the person's eyes, because this attitude ends up transmitting a greater feeling of transparency.

Embrace the differences

To accept that the world is made up of differences and that there is no one like you is to try to value the construction of a more diverse and creative world. All of this begins with the attitude of trying to accept the differences that are part of any kind of relationship.

Making an effort to socialize with people who think differently from you will help you not to stay in a social bubble. Opening up to what's different will make you a more empathetic and creative person.

What is the greatest benefit of interpersonal relationships?

When you try to work on your interpersonal relationship, you begin to understand yourself more every day, elevating the way you relate to the world and to people. Taking to the view that the world is made of people, when you manage to have more healthy relationships, your life becomes fuller.

Therefore, if you start paying attention to how you seek to build your relationship with people, you are contributing to your development (both personal and professional), generating a positive impact on your relationships and, mainly, on your mental health.