Interpersonal Relationships

Interpersonal Relationships

1. Conflict: an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who percieve incompatible goals, scarce rewards, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals.

   • Communication Climate: the emotional tone of a relationship as it is expressed in the messages that the partners send and recieve.
     • Confirming Messages: Actions and words that express respect and show that we value the other person.
       • Show recognition, acknowledge the person's thoughts and feelings, show that you agree.
       • Disconfirming Messages: Words and actions that express a lack of caring or respect for another person.
         • Criticism: A message that is personal, all encompassng, and accusatory.
           • Contempt: verbal and nonverbal messages that ridicule or belittle the other person.
           • Defensivness: Protecting oneself by counteracting the other person.
           • Stonewalling: Refusing to engage with the other person.
         • Relational Spiral: A reciprocal communication pattern in which each person's message reinforces the other's.
           • Escalatory Spiral: a reciprocal pattern of communication in which messages, either confirming or disconfirming, between two or more communicators reinforce one another.
             • Avoidance Spiral: A communication spiral in which the parties slowly reduce their dependence on one another, withdraw, and become less invested in the relationship.

2. Nonassertion: The inability or unwillingness to express one's thoughts or feelings.

   • Indirect Communication: hinting at a message instead of expressing thought's and feelings directly.

3. Passive Agression: an indirect expression of aggression, delievered in a way that allows the sender to maintain a facade of kindness.

   • Direct Aggression: A message that attacks the position and perhaps the dignity of the reciever.
   • One of my favorite songs "Shout Out To My Ex" by Little Mix is a passive agressive song towards one of the ex boyfriend's of one of the band members.
   • Assertive Communication: a style of communicating that directly expresses the sender's needs, thoughts, or feelings, delievered in a way that does not attack the reciever.

4. Win-Lose Problem Solving: an approach to conflict resolution in which one party reaches his or her goal at the expense of the other.

   • Lose-Lose Problem Solving: neither party reaches its goals.
     • Compromise: An approach to conflict resolution in which both parties attain at least part of what they seek by giving something up.