Test Questions & Answers Communication Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: Communication

1. How Communication Promotes Intimacy

a. Relationship maintenance

b. Disclosures and responses: The intimacy process model

 i. Interpretive filters

  ii. Empathy

iii. Partner responsiveness

c. Research findings on the process of intimacy

2. Maintaining Intimacy

a. Shared activities

 i. Self-expansion model

b. Social support

 i. Social integration

  ii. Visible versus invisible support

c. Capitalization: Broaden-and-build theory

   i. Active-constructive responses

  ii. Passive-constructive responses

iii. Active-destructive responses

 iv. Passive-destructive responses

d. Forgiveness

 i. Intrapersonal and interpersonal components

1. Silent versus hollow forgiveness

 ii. Stages of forgiveness

1. Impact

2. Making meaning

3. Moving on

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ________ refers to the routine behaviors and strategies partners undertake to help ensure that their relationship will continue.

2. You know your partner has been studying all day for an exam and will not have had time to cook supper, so you pick up some takeout on your way home from work. Your behavior is an example of:

3. The intimacy process model is important because it draws attention to:

4. According to the intimacy process model:

5. Petula’s mother has a terminal illness and she is not expected to live more than a few weeks. Petula just placed her mother in hospice. Petula told her romantic partner, Sarah, that she feels guilty and that she feels she is abandoning her mother. Sarah responds by saying, “Well, everyone has to die sometime.” What perspective from your text helps us understand Sarah’s response?

6. Ivan’s father had a stroke and is now living with Ivan’s sister. Ivan told his wife, Ann, that he feels guilty that his sister has to bear the burden of caring for their father. Ann responds by saying, “Well, maybe we can help pitch in for some of the extra groceries.” What perspective from your text helps us understand Ann’s response?

7. You have been under a great deal of stress at work for the past few months. You tell your partner about your concerns. Your partner responds by saying, “It sounds like this is really difficult for you to handle.” What kind of response has your partner made?

8. Adnan has had a tough day at work and his partner, Georges, listens to him complain and then makes sure that Adnan eats a good meal and gets to bed early. The next day, Adnan tells Georges that he wishes Georges was more supportive about his work problems. What is the most likely explanation for Adnan’s comment to Georges?

9. Julian tells his wife, Danielle, “I’m worried that my brother might be drinking again.” She nods and goes back to typing on the computer. Julian tries again, “I smelled alcohol on my brother last week, and I really hope he hasn’t fallen off the wagon.” After a few seconds of silence, his wife turns to him and says, “Hmm, right.” What is this an example of?

10. Asian Americans are ________ likely than European Americans to disclose their needs for support to a romantic partner because of concern that ________.

11. When a partner makes a personal disclosure, how does that affect the self-esteem of the other partner?

12. Regarding maintenance processes in relationships, which of the following is true?

13. Studies by Aron and colleagues suggest that couples who engage in ________ activities together tend to experience increases in relationship satisfaction and communication.

14. Which types of shared-couple activities have been shown to increase relationship satisfaction and communication?

15. Jaswinder has been in a relationship with Sukhdip for about 2 years; they have set up a joint bank account and have bought a house together, and Jaswinder has taught Sukhdip how to ski and has introduced her to his hobby of photography. What model or perspective best explains these behaviors?

16. You design a couples experiment where half the couples go on weekly dates and do activities that they find exciting and novel (e.g., cooking class, skydiving) and the other half go on weekly dates and engage in activities that they typically enjoy (e.g., movies, dinner). What prediction do you make about the effect of this experiment on their relationship satisfaction?

17. Studies conducted to test the self-expansion model proposed by Aron and colleagues suggest that:

18. Which of the following is true?

19. Over the course of the semester, your friend Samantha meets someone and falls in love. From the self-expansion perspective, what changes can you expect to observe in Samantha?

20. Your friend Mia is in a bad spot in her 5-year relationship with Lee. She finds the relationship boring and complains that she never does anything new; she does not feel particularly attracted to Lee anymore. Given this information, which of the following is the most credible explanation for why Mia is dissatisfied?

21. As the rate of self-expansion drops in a relationship, _____ and ___________begin to fade.

22. Self-expansion theory provides an explanation for:

23. Acts that communicate caring and validate the other’s feelings are known as _____ support.

24. Mohinder takes care of making dinner and washing the dishes while Sally is studying for her exam. Based on this, Mohinder is offering what type of support?

25. What is social integration?

26. Your roommate is studying for a big final exam. You notice that she is anxious, so, to help out, you decide to wash all the dinner dishes, even though it is her turn. What kind of support is this?

27. Lisa is in the middle of studying for four final exams and feels a great deal of stress. Her partner, Alex, decides to help more around the house by doing the dishes and cooking dinner more often and mowing the lawn; however, Lisa does not notice that Alex has stepped up because she is too busy studying for finals. According to the textbook, Alex is providing:

28. Lisa is in the middle of studying for four final exams and feels a great deal of stress. Her partner, Alex, offers to help quiz her on some of the material. According to the textbook, Alex is providing:

29. Lisa is in the middle of studying for four final exams and feels a great deal of stress. Her partner, Alex, is trying to decide how best to help: he could do more around the house by doing the dishes and cooking dinner more often and mowing the lawn, or he could offer to help quiz her on some of the material. What should Alex do and why?

30. Your partner is dealing with an upcoming important deadline at work. What type of support should you provide and why?

31. Niall Bolger and his colleagues (2000) conducted a study of law students taking the bar exam and their partners. Which of the following is true?

32. Visible support is to ________ as invisible support is to ________.

33. Sharing positive emotions will enhance our relationships and thus build resources (e.g., strong relationships) on which we can draw in times of need. With what theory of relationships is this most consistent?

34. Selena is proud of herself for getting an article published in her school newspaper and has called her boyfriend, Nick, to tell him the good news. Which of the following factors will most likely determine whether Selena benefits from her attempt at capitalization?

35. Carl told his wife, Meena, that he got a raise at work. Meena (although happy for Carl) did not say much. What type of capitalization response is this?

36. Carl learns that Meena got a promotion. Carl said congratulations, but he then expressed his concern that this promotion might actually increase her workload. What kind of capitalization response is this?

37. Shelly Gable and colleagues (2004) investigated the association between partners’ disclosures of positive life events and relationship satisfaction. Which of the following statements best describes the findings from this line of research?

38. Your partner just got a promotion at work and shares the news with you. Which of the following responses would be most likely to enhance your partner’s relationship satisfaction?

39. Passive-constructive capitalization responses are negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. Why might this be?

40. According to Gable and her colleagues, passive-constructive responses to capitalization attempts are associated with:

41. Gertrude just got a new job. Her boyfriend, Andre, responded by saying, “I really hope I can find a summer job. It is going to be hard this late in the semester.” What would you conclude about their relationship from this exchange?

42. Following a transgression, Juan feels angry, yet acts warmly to his partner. Juan’s feelings of anger are considered _________, whereas his acting warmly is considered _________.

43. Danny and Stella were in therapy following the revelation of Stella’s relationship with another man. Danny felt hurt, angry, and confused about his relationship and feelings for Stella. Stella was defensive about the affair and tried to hide the full extent of her relationship with the other man. What stage of forgiveness do you think this couple is experiencing?

44. Lisa discovered that her wife had lied about a bad investment that has cost them a good portion of their life savings. Still unhappy about the situation, Lisa is asking many questions about what happened. What stage of forgiveness do you think Lisa is experiencing?

45. According to definitions of forgiveness given in the text, which of the following is required for a couple to experience forgiveness?

46. According to the text, ________ describes the transformation that occurs when people’s motivation to seek revenge for hurtful actions diminishes and their motivation to pursue conciliatory courses of action increases.

47. Brad and Jing-Mei have been married for several years. Recently Brad discovered that Jing-Mei had a brief affair. Which of the following will NOT increase the likelihood that Brad will forgive Jing-Mei?

48. In response to a blunder John made, John’s wife, Carineh, said, “You are so dumb, John.” John got angry, and Carineh quickly apologized. John told Carineh he forgave her even though he did not mean it because he was still angry with her. What type of forgiveness is John displaying?

49. In response to a blunder John made, John’s wife, Carineh, said, “You are so dumb, John.” John got angry, and Carineh quickly apologized. John forgave Carineh even though he didn’t tell her so. What type of forgiveness is John displaying?

50. Which of the following is NOT one of the four factors that determines whether an individual forgives the partner for a transgression?

51. Ken is an agreeable person with a secure attachment style. He recently scheduled a date with his wife, Diane, but she never showed up. Diane offered a sincere apology to Ken for forgetting about their dinner date; however, Ken was still upset. What factor is most likely making it difficult for Ken to forgive Diane?

52. Mila is an emotionally stable person, who has had a positive and committed relationship with her husband, Dwayne. However, she recently learned that Dwayne had an affair 6 months ago when she was out of town on a work trip. Although Dwayne apologized to Mila, expressing remorse, she is still extremely upset by the situation. What factor is most likely making it difficult for Mila to forgive Dwayne?

53. Lloyd is an emotionally stable man, who has a secure relationship with his husband, Mario. One day, Mario tells Lloyd that Lloyd was being annoying by not doing the household duties, which made Lloyd upset. Mario apologized to Lloyd; however, Lloyd did not find Mario’s apology to be sincere. What factor is most likely making it difficult for Lloyd to forgive Mario?

54. Maytal has an insecure attachment style and is married to her wife, Sally. Sally recently poked fun at Maytal for putting on a bit of weight in the past month, which hurt Maytal’s feelings. Sally apologized. While Maytal could tell Sally was sincere, Maytal was still upset. What factor is most likely making it difficult for Maytal to forgive Sally?

55. Liam has adjusted to the revelation that his wife cheated on him a year ago. He recognizes that if he holds a grudge against her, it is going to affect their family negatively, so he decides to forgive her. What stage of forgiveness is Liam most likely experiencing?

1. According to the intimacy process model, interpretive filters can influence perceptions of a partner’s behavior. Describe how interpretive filters can influence social support provision, capitalization, and forgiveness in relationships.

2. Describe the intimacy process model.

3. Anthony has been struggling with the decision to return to school to become an architect or to continue in his high-paying, but very dissatisfying, job. He decides to talk to his wife, Mei, about the problem. He tells her, “Mei, I know it would be tough financially, but I’m thinking about going back to school to become an architect. What do you think?” Provide an example of an empathic response that Mei could give Anthony.

4. According to Gable (2004), there are four basic types of capitalization responses. List the four types and discuss how each is related to relationship intimacy.

5. Cassandra’s coworkers celebrate her birthday by taking her to a spa for a manicure and pedicure instead of working in the afternoon. She tells her wife, Patricia, all about the outing. What might Patricia say or do that would represent the (1) active-constructive; (2) active-destructive; and (3) passive-destructive capitalization responses to Cassandra’s disclosure?

6. Brad and Jing-Mei have been married for several years. Recently Brad discovered that Jing-Mei had a brief affair. The text describes four factors that increase the likelihood of forgiveness following a relationship transgression. Which of these factors might argue for Brad’s forgiveness and which might argue against Brad’s forgiveness.

7. Compare and contrast silent forgiveness and hollow forgiveness, and discuss how they operate in the context of intimate relationships from an intra- and interpersonal level.

8. Describe the three stages of forgiveness developed by Gordon and Baucom (1998).

9. Meg and Jian have been married 10 years and both feel generally dissatisfied with their marriage. Although they still get along fine and spend lots of time together, both feel that their relationship and their lives, in general, are rather flat. From a self-expansion perspective, give two interpretations of what the problem might be.

10. Your friend Humpreet asks you what she can do to put the “spice” back into her 2-year relationship with Tasha. She says the two of them get along fine, but the relationship seems to be routine compared with when they first started dating. From a self-expansion perspective, what suggestion(s) would you give Humpreet and why?

11. How does the self-expansion model help us explain the deterioration of relationship satisfaction?

12. Define invisible and visible support, and discuss which type may be more beneficial under certain conditions.

13. You go on a local television show to promote your new research study on social support. The interviewer asks, “Why do you need to study social support? Isn’t it simple: Being supportive is better?” How do you respond to her comment, referring to specific research findings on support presented in the text?

14. Your partner is dealing with an upcoming important deadline at work and needs to spend most nights working on the project rather than watching TV with you. What is the best way for you to support him during this stressful time and why?

15. Compare and contrast the processes of social support and capitalization and how they are related to relationship quality.