Paradox in Public Relations: Why Managing Relating Makes More Sense Than Managing Relationships

Abstract

This article applies research on paradox, semantics, and theories of groups and logical types to public relations, particularly the concept of relationship management. Paradoxes create tension and are often produced by semantic disturbances resulting from errors in logical typing. Communication is inherently paradoxical. The article contends that progress in public relations practice and scholarship has been inhibited by a failure to recognize or reconcile paradoxes associated with popular concepts, such as relationship management, mutually beneficial relationships, and symmetrical communication. Such concepts breach levels of communication to create logical fallacies and place practitioners into a double bind of promising more than they can deliver without resorting to coercion and manipulation. The article introduces Group Theory and the Theory of Logical Types, and suggests that public relations reframe relationship management with relating management, a practices more consistent with Kant's humanity imperative.