Deck 9: Communication in Sustaining Relationships

Question 1

Although she has a desire to tell her mother about her drinking problem and ask for help, Susanne decides to keep it a secret. Susanne's struggle with deciding whether or not to share some personal information with her mother reflects which dialectical tension?

A) Presence and absence
B) Stability and change
C) Predictability and novelty
D) Openness and closedness
E) Autonomy and connectedness

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In the past, Paul has insisted on going to a restaurant and to a movie on each of his dates with Danielle. Last night, however, Danielle asked Paul if they could go bowling and to grab coffee instead. In response, Paul conceded to go bowling but asked if they could try a different restaurant in lieu of getting coffee. Which of the following dialectical tensions were Paul and Danielle wrestling with?

A) Stability and change
B) Openness and closedness
C) Autonomy and connectedness
D) Presence and absence
E) Expression and privacy

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Dialectics are:

A) Consensus between two forces.
B) The push and pull between interconnected yet opposing forces.
C) Systems of interrelated parts that forma unified whole.
D) All of the above.
E) A and C only.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Karyn wants to be with her romantic partner, but she also feels they need time apart. Which of the following dialectical tensions is she experiencing?

A) Openness and closedness
B) Stability and change
C) Autonomy and connectedness
D) Expression and privacy
E) Novelty and predictability

Question 5

Which of the following concepts from relational dialectical theory best explains the process where new meaning occurs?

A) Centrifugal
B) Diachronic separation
C) Monologue
D) Synchronic interplay
E) Dialogic transformation

Question 6

To that meaning comes from multiple perspectives, Bakhtin used the concept of the ______.

A) Utterance chain
B) Monologue
C) Not-yet-spoken
D) Multivocality
E) Centripetal

Question 7

Relational dialectics theory assume all of the following, EXCEPT:

A) The utterance chain includes proximal and distal links.
B) Meaning is made in the interplay of centripetal and centrifugal forces.
C) Meanings are located in discourses.
D) Culture rarely affords discourses the same amount of power.
E) Relational partners should strive to fully resolve the tensions in their relationships.

Question 8

The extent to which a system interacts with factors and processes outside of it is referred to as:

A) Openness
B) Entropy
C) Interrelatedness
D) Wholeness
E) Equifinality

Question 9

In an effort to keep himself and his family healthy, Sebastian is careful to leave his work at the office and to spend time with his partner and kids in the evenings and on the weekends. According to systems theory, Sebastian is attempting to maintain:

A) Entropy
B) Equifinality
C) Homeostasis
D) A holarchy
E) A hierarchy

Question 10

The Garner family uses primarily shared activities to communicate love and affection, whereas the Ledbetter family uses physical affection and words of affirmation. The fact that both families create loving environments for their children using different forms of expression best illustrates which concept from systems theory?

A) Wholeness
B) Equifinality
C) A hierarchy
D) Entropy
E) Homeostasis

Question 11

Interactional/systems theory assumes all of the following, EXCEPT:

A) Systems are maintained through communication.
B) Focusing only on the individual "parts" of communication makes it difficult to understand how the whole process works.
C) Feedback is critical to the process of creating meaning.
D) Systems exist independently of other systems.
E) Closed systems have little to no interaction with their external environments.

Question 12

In order for a system to thrive, it needs a certain degree of diversity. According to systems theory, this is referred to as:

A) System evolution
B) Requisite variety
C) Entropy
D) Homeostasis
E) Equifinality

Question 13

In a university system, the Chancellor is higher on the organizational chart than a Dean, and the Dean is higher on the chart than a Professor. This illustrates which of the following concepts from systems theory?

A) Holarchies
B) Equifinality
C) Wholeness
D) Entropy
E) Hierarchy

Question 14

In order to help us understand the separation between public and private information, Petronio uses the metaphor of a(n):

A) Onion
B) Staircase
C) Picket fence
D) Boundary
E) Hula-hoop

Question 15

Petronio's efforts to develop CPM theory were influenced by which of the following theorists?

A) Mead and Burke
B) Berger and Calabrese
C) Altman and Taylor
D) Bakhtin and Baxter
E) Thibaut and Kelley

Question 16

Caroline became frustrated and upset with her sister when her sister told the rest of her family that she had broken up with her boyfriend. According to CPM theory, Caroline and her sister experienced:

A) Boundary turbulence
B) Boundary negotiation
C) Risk-benefit ratios
D) A dialectical moment
E) Boundary linkage

Question 17

According to CPM theory, privacy rules are affected by all of the following factors, EXCEPT:

A) Cultural values
B) Gender
C) Risk-benefit ratios
D) Context
E) Hierarchy

Question 18

CPM theory assumes all of the following, EXCEPT:

A) People have a need to manage their private information.
B) When we disclose private information, we make ourselves vulnerable to others.
C) Privacy is more important to personal relationships than self-disclosure.
D) We create privacy boundaries to help us distinguish between public and private information.
E) Rules for privacy management are developed both personally and collectively.

Question 19

Although he was romantically interested in Carmen, Adam decided not to disclose his feelings to her for fear that she did not feel the same way about him. According to CPM theory, Adam's decision was guided primarily by:

A) Gender
B) A risk-benefit ratio
C) Cultural values
D) Context
E) Time and space

Question 20

____________ discourses are more dominant and popular in the culture, whereas ____________ discourses are more marginalized.

A) Centrifugal; centripetal
B) Centripetal; centrifugal
C) Prosaic; chronotopical
D) Chronotopical; prosaic
E) Prosaic; centrifugal

Question 21

All parts of a system are interrelated.

Question 22

For Petronio, self-disclosure and privacy are dialectically opposed to each other.

Question 23

Relational dialectics theory emerged from Western philosophies and ways of seeing the world.

Question 24

Relational dialectics theory suggests that tensions within relationships should be removed.

Question 25

Rules for privacy management are developed both personally and collectively.

Question 26

According to CPM theory, our decisions to disclose private information are guided by a _______ management system.

Question 27

When we question whether or not empirical data can be used to test systems theory, we are relying upon the ______ criterion for good theory.

Question 28

Although originally an interpretive theory, relational dialectics theory is now situated in the __________ paradigm?

Question 29

Interactional/systems theory uses the term ______ to describe the idea that systems can reach the same final state in more than one way.

Question 30

The ability of a system to regulate its function and maintain a "steady state" is referred to as ______.