exam #2 review | ch. 11, 12, 13, 14

Chapter 11:

• interpersonal conflict: btwn 2 or more people
• functional conflict: develops a clearer understanding of needs, attitudes, or beliefs

• DESC scripts: strategy for expressing feelings/understanding others

Describe (why situation troubles you, as specifically/objectively as possible)
Express (how you feel about situation. "I", "me", "my")
Specify (how you'd like to see it resolved)
Consequences (of changing/not changing situation)

• pseudoconflict: situation that gives an appearance of conflict even though it's not actual conflict (ex. misunderstandings, lack of clarity)
• content conflict: conflict revolving around a matter of fact
• compromising style: style of resolving conflict, middle range btwn assertiveness & cooperativeness 
• social learning theory: we learn at least some of what we know by observing others & modeling the behaviors that we have observed

• a conflict free relationship is not healthy

True, lack of conflict is not real & can contribute to a relationship becoming dysfunctional

• some interpersonal conflicts take on a life of their own w participants unable to control them

False, people can learn to control how they respond to conflict

• some interpersonal arguments are less destructive than others but all of them have negative consequences

False, conflict can have positive consequences

• movies & video games have powerful influence on how we learn to deal w conflict

True, they give us models of people engaged in conflict, affecting our attitudes toward conflict & how we prefer to resolve it

Chapter 12:

• abdicrat: one who has little need to control another
• autocrat: one who has a great need to control/dominate others

• happy people live longer than unhappy people

True, happy people live up to 35% longer than those who report being unhappy

• as time passes, passionate love increases

False, partners in developed relationships express passion in "sparks & spurts" 

• "what's up" is a question that opens a communication channel btwn 2 people

True, asking it functions as a conversation opener 

• by talking about my friends instead of our friends, partners are able to bond more easily

False, talking about my instead of our friends, partners enter the differentiating stage of relationship

• less talk about fewer topics increases a relationship's strength

False, less talk about fewer topics is a sign of a deteriorating relationship

• Maslow's hierarchy of needs: Abraham Maslow's pyramidal hierarchy of human needs

• intimacy: measure of closeness; sustained feelings of closeness & connection
• latent intimacy: feelings of intimacy or connection not directly apparent to others
• nascent friendship: rules & regulating interaction are worked out, hanging out more, 4th stage of Rawlin's 6 stages of friendship
• task attractiveness: relationship attractor where you enjoy working together

Chapter 13:

• self disclosure: willing sharing of info about the self w others

• self disclosure involves willingly revealing private info about ourselves to another

True, when we self-disclose, we share personal info that the other person wouldn't have known

• self disclosure carries no risk

False, self disclosure can leave the disclosing person more vulnerable

• when disclosures occur too early in a relationship, the other person might feel uncomfortable

True, premature disclosures may lead to relationship discomfort

• intimacy & self disclosure are positively related

True, coming to know another better increases feelings of closeness

• relationship breadth: aspect of relationship measured by how many topics the parties discuss
• relationship depth: aspect of relationship measured by how central the topics discussed are to the self-concepts of the individuals involved & how much the parties are willing to reveal about themselves & their feelings
• social penetration theory: states that relationships typically begin w relatively narrow breadth & depth & develop over time
• relational dialectics theory: pushes & pulls partners feel toward integration vs. separation, stability vs. change, & expression vs. privacy (conflicting forces)

Chapter 14:

• systems theory: an approach to communication that stresses interaction of all elements in a communication network

• reflective thinking framework: problem solving system designed to encourage critical inquiry

1. what is the problem?
2. what are the facts of the situation? (analyze the problem)
3. what criteria must an acceptable solution meet?
4. what are possible solutions?
5. which is the best solution?
6. how can the solution be implemented?

• fewer than half of all Amer. families include a married couple

True, single or cohabiting adults now head more than half of all U.S. households

• if a family has more than 2 people, then its members live in triangles

True, a triangle is a pair plus another person

• mindguards facilitate groupthink

True, mindguards protect the leader from receiving dissenting info

exam # 1 review | ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10

Chapter 1:

• basic model of communication: 

-encoding: putting thoughts into words
-decoding: attaching meaning to a message

• dialect: imposition of a region on a language
• accent: imposition of a language on a language
• pitch: highness or lowness of voice
• inflection: rise & fall of voice (~~~~~~)
• monotone: unchanging in pitch ( ----------)

• 5 characteristics of communication:

1. it's a dynamic process: ongoing/continuous
2. it's unrepeatable: every contact is different, never the same
3. it's irreversible: can't take it back/erase impact
4. it's learned: environment/words/actions teach you what works & what doesn't
5. it's characterized by wholeness & nonsummativity: more than the sum of it's parts

• linear model of communication (one way): 

• transactional model of communication (back & forth): 

Chapter 2:

• social comparison theory: people compare themselves to others to get a feel for how their talents/abilities/qualities measure up
• rejection: negation/disagreement w a self-appraisal
• disconfirming: communication that denies another person's significance

Chapter 3: 

• selective exposure: exposing self to people/messages that confirm own existing beliefs/values
• attribution theory: assigning meaning to behaviors by ascribing motives & causes

Chapter 4:

• hearing: physiological process of receiving sound
• listening: evaluating & attaching meaning to what you hear

• Hurier model/stages of listening:

1. hearing
2. understanding/attending
3. remembering
4. interpreting
5. evaluating/analyzing
6. responding (verbally/non-verbally)

• styles of listening:

1. people oriented: focus on emotions & interest of others
2. action oriented:  focus on clarity & preciseness (how to solve a problem)
3. content oriented:  focus on facts & details
4. time oriented:  focus on efficiency & succinctness

• types of listening:

1. appreciative: entertainment
2. comprehensive: acquire info
3. critical/deliberate: make an evaluation
4. empathetic: therapeutic, emotional, understanding

Chapter 6:

• paralinguistics: how you speak/variations in voice. non-verbal aspect of voice
• proxemics: non-verbal space/distance
• haptics: non-verbal touch
• illustrators: non-verbal bodily cues to reinforce message
• regulators: steer convo, influence turn taking
• adaptors: unintentional movement, "nervous habits"

Chapter 10:

• power/leadership types:

-reward: someone has something that you want, they provide you w something (ex. job, $, perks, etc.)

-coercive: someone being forceful/threatening, negative consequences (ex. boycotts)

-expert: someone w special knowledge/skill/background/training (ex. doctors)

-legitimate: someone w a position/role higher than you, who they are (ex. teacher, police, employer)

-referent: someone you respect/admire (ex. older sibling, celebrity) 

-persuasive: someone w well thought out arguments, logical appeal (ex. lawyers)

• trigger cues: stimulate automatic response

-types: 

1. reciprocation (you owe me)
2. social proof (everyone else is in favor of it)
3. consistency (it's worked many times before)
4. liking (if you love me, support my ideas)
5. authority (bc i want you to)
6. scarcity (do it before you can't do it anymore)

• Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

Since my laptop is updating, & I'm studying for interpersonal communications, I thought I might share a passage that I just stumbled upon while reading my textbook. It says:

"We need to understand how we manage to maintain a self-image that others may regard as unrealistic. For example, we might suppose we are great thinkers while others believe our thinking lacks depth. Perhaps because we are overly concerned with how we come across to others, we put all our energy into presenting ourselves in as favorable a light as possible. When we focus on ourselves, however, we are less likely to notice others' reactions to us, and we may miss feedback cues revealing how they really see us. In addition, sometimes we persist in holding on to an unrealistic self-image because others are reticent to reveal their true responses to us for fear of hurting our feelings. Instead, they tell us what they think we want to hear. Other times, we base our assessment of ourselves on obsolete information- we opt to cling to memories rather than face current realities. 

Just as we can view ourselves more favorably than others do, we can also be our own worst critics and view ourselves more harshly than is warranted. For example, we might convince ourselves that we are fat despite others insisting we are a perfect weight. Why do we do this? We might be acting on the basis of outmoded data- information that was true at one time but is no longer true. Or we might receive distorted feedback from an overly critical friend that warps our view of ourselves. Or we might criticize ourselves simply because we believe that is what society expects us to do. We might feel that society prefers we own up to our inadequacies while downplaying our strengths."