Communication HR ERQ

Question 1

Theory of communication

Answer 1

Gottman’s theory of communication: four horses of apocalypse:
criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling

Question 2

Rusbult et al (1991): Role of accommodation

Answer 2

Investigated the role of accommodation as a key to having a healthy relationship, and is defined as an individual’s willingness, when a partner has engaged in destructive behavior, to inhibit the natural tendency to respond in a similarly destructive manner, hence, engaging in a constructive manner.

Question 3

Accomodation: Investment Model of Commitment Process

Answer 3

Explains how committed partners maintain and promote by changing personal incentives to get along with each other.

There are four ways in which we respond to these negative behaviours in a close relationship:

• Exit: destroying the connection between leaving, deliberately mistreating our spouses, divorce, threatening to leave, or shouting at our partners
• Voice: actively and constructively attempting to improve things through discussion and provision of solutions to the current problems through advice or adjustment.
• Loyalty: when we wait passively but eagerly for things to improve by standing by our partners in spite of adversity and hope for improvement.
• Neglect: when we allow the connection to deteriorate passively by ignoring or spending less time with our partners as a means to avoid conflict through avoiding the addressing of problems, poor treatment, blaming the partner for things that are unrelated to the situation, or just do nothing to help the relationship.

These four strategies can be placed in categories of active or passive and constructive and destructive.

For example, voice is active and constructive, Exit is destructive and active, loyalty is constructive and passive, and neglect is passive and destructive.

Couples in distress or in risk of the ending are more likely to demonstrate these negative behaviors or problem-solving strategies

Accommodation is lower among people who are less empathetic and dont understand how their partner feels about the problem

Question 4

Rusbult et al study

Answer 4

Aim: how one’s level of commitment affected their patterns of accommodation.

Participants: 144 American undergraduates - 71 men and 73 women
-All were taking an introductory psychology course
- All participants had experience in close relationships.
Procedure:
- They read essays describing situations in which one person behaved inconsiderately toward the protagonist in the story.
- Participants were asked to place themselves in the position of the protagonist and answered questions about their probable reactions.
- There were 20 different essays, each manipulating the level of interdependence between person X and the protgonist.
The four levels of interdependence were operationalized as follows:

• Acquaintance condition
• Casual dates - that is, have been out on a few dates. Nothing serious
• Regular dates - have been dating for several months and may be getting serious
• Seriously involved - engaged to be married

Participants were given three of the essays and asked to answer 12 questions concerning their likelihood of responding in a strategy of exit, voice, neglect or loyalty.

Results:
- As the level of interdependence increased, so did the likelihood of constructive accommodation.
- It was also found that women were more likely to accommodate than men.

Question 5

Limitations of Rusbult et al

Answer 5

-The situation was hypothetical, often we are predictors of our behaviour, hence, the study is not naturalistic and thus it may not have high predictive validity.
- Demand characteristics- stereotype effects
- Sample is not representative of the larger population and is not a representation of long-term committed relationships.

Question 6

Argument 2: attribution

Answer 6

Bradbury and Fincham (1990):
The role of communication in attributing the cause of an event in a relationship.

Couples who are in happy relationships engage in relationship-enhancing patterns and tend to attribute positive behaviours internally to their partner, thus not blaming or assuming things that their partner did.

They also tend to attribute negative behaviours to situational factors.

Unhappy couples engage in distress-maintaining patterns and attribute positive behaviours to situational factors and negative behaviours to internal factors.

Couples blame their partners and do not give credit to positive events.

Question 7

Study of attribution

Answer 7

Bradbury and Finchmann

Question 8

Limitation of Bradbury and Ficham

Answer 8

-bidirectional ambiguity
-Does not consider other factors
-Sampling bias

Question 9

Applicability

Answer 9

-Identifying our behaviours and our responses to problems to better our relationships.
- This can apply to a more personal and mild level which can include the couple looking to better their communication or a more professional way, presented as marriage counseling, for couples to identify how they act with the help of a third party, and to learn how to better their relationships.

Question 10

Limitations

Answer 10

Gottman’s theory of communication: Criticized for saying that this work reliably predicts a divorce.
As a result, investigations are frequently retrospective, and it is not always possible to confirm the relationship events that caused the decline.