Deck 7: C: Developing and Maintaining Relationships

Question 1

Provide an example from your personal experience to illustrate how forming an interpersonal relationship has helped you to achieve a goal.

Answer 1

Answers will vary.

Question 2

In your own words, distinguish between the two general ways in which relationships terminate: passing away and sudden death.

Answer 2

Whereas passing away is characterized by a gradual drifting apart or fading of the relationship, sudden death refers to a relationship ending suddenly and unexpectedly.

Question 3

Define bonding as it is discussed as a part of the stable stage of relationship development, and provide an example of how you have communicated bonding with one of your friends or with a romantic partner.

Answer 3

Bonding takes place when the partners share symbolic messages with the world that their relationship is important and cherished. Examples will vary but will include outward expressions such as getting matching T-shirts; having photographs taken together; or getting engaged, getting married, or having some kind of commitment ceremony.

Question 4

In your own words, define an interpersonal relationship.

Question 5

How would you define interpersonal communication?

Question 6

Briefly describe the difference between love and intimacy.

Question 7

List and describe the three basic needs that motivate human beings to form and maintain interpersonal relationships.

Question 8

List and describe three tactics that can help a couple that has terminated their relationship to reconcile.
Answer Key

Question 9

Which type of love do you believe is most important in a romantic relationship and why?

Question 10

Provide an example of an extrinsic, an instrumental, and an intrinsic reward that may influence the development of a relationship.

Question 11

Briefly describe two communication behaviors that might indicate a couple has reached the intensification stage.

Question 12

List and describe three of the six important characteristics of friendship identified in your textbook.

Question 13

What are the three issues discussed in the textbook that influence our choice of whether or not another person is attractive to us as a relational partner?

Question 14

List and define the three dialectical tensions we experience in our relationships.

Question 15

We can reduce our uncertainty in a relationship by using _____________ strategies that involve us observing other people as they go about their business and communicate with others; ___________ strategies that involve asking a third party questions in order to gain information more directly; and _______________ strategies that enable us to get information from a partner by directly asking for it.

Question 16

List and define four of the six types of love.

Question 17

What is the difference between a friendship and a social relationship?

Question 18

Describe one way in which online relationships are different from face-to-face relationships.

Question 19

Provide an example of a cost you experience in one of your current interpersonal relationships, whether it is a friendship, a romantic relationship, or a family relationship.