Interpersonal Comm Final

Relational Turbulence Theory (RTT)

The theory explains how people communicate when circumstances change within their relationships

What is the goal of Relational Turbulence Theory?

to determine how transitions in relationships influence uncertainty and interference between partners and how uncertainty and interference influences communication between partners

What is the metatheoretical orientation of RTT?

Post-positive

Why are transitions important?

they evoke relational uncertainty and disrupt interdependence, affect dyadic coordination (the degree to which partners are coordinated in an interaction), and tend to polarize emotions and cognitive appraisals
Moving from casual to serious dating relationship corresponds with increased conflict, more frequent and intense emotions, and heightened relationship thinking
Thus, they create turbulence

What is turbulence?

a relationship quality that can become prominent when either relational uncertainty is high OR interdependence failures are frequent
includes feelings of chaos and instability

What are transitions?

a change in the relationship
Typically followed by an intense period that sparks changes in how partners think, feel, and communicate
Changes in the individual (feelings, new job)
Changes within the dyad (finishing college, empty nesting)
Changes external to the dyad (parent's declining health, new work supervisor)

What is social support?

information leading the person to believe they are cared for and loved, esteemed and valued, and part of a social network

How is enacted support and perceived support different?

Enacted support is what people actually do to help another person
Perceived support is how the person receiving support interpret/evaluate the support given

What is supportive communication?

verbal and nonverbal behaviors produced with the intention of providing assistance to others who are perceived as needing that aid

How do structural and functional support differ?

Structural: people's social ties and integration into social networks
Functional: emphasize the nature of enacted support, perceived support
(IPC focuses on functional)

What role does stress play in TRRL?

Eustress: good stress fostered from a positive perception of a stressor
Distress: bad stress fostered from a negative perception of a stressor

What is resilience in TRRL?

developed over time by experiencing adversity and learning what perceptions and communicative responses are adaptive in adverse situations (resilience as an outcome)

What is communal orientation?

The extent to which relational partners are a team or unified front in managing the stressor
Couples that are more communally oriented typically engage in more relational maintenance behaviors

What are common relational maintenance behaviors?

Showing affection
Expressing gratitude
Engaging in activities together
Asking about the other person's day
Eating dinner together
Quality time alone

What did Salehuddin et al. study and find?

examined how communal orientation and relational load changed across 4 time periods during the COVID-19 pandemic from April to June 2020
As in H1, an increase in stress was associated with worsened mental health
As in H1, an increase in conflict was associated with worsened mental health
H2: An increase in RL was associated with more conflict
H2: An increase in RL being associated with worsened mental health
For people who had high RL at the beginning of the pandemic (at time 1), they had significantly worse stress, more conflict, and worse mental health
Their ability to flourish remained stable across all 4 times
The greater individual's CO at the beginning of the pandemic (at time 1), the lower their conflict, and this remained stable across the other 3 times

What is interactional storytelling?

This heuristic focuses on the verbal and nonverbal process of storytelling
Argues that collaborative storytelling is a process between people, where meaning is jointly constructed

What propositions align with interactional storytelling?

Proposition 3: higher levels of ISM predict higher levels of narrative sense-making
Proposition 4: higher levels of ISM predict higher levels of individual and relational health and well-being
Proposition 5: higher levels of CPT predict higher levels of individual and relational health and well-being

What is the prodigal child?

Mischievous and/or naughty when young but well-mannered as adults

What is narrative sense-making?

the process of making sense of the world through stories and storytelling

What is esteem support? (emotion-focused)

Reassurances of worth

Interference vs. Facilitation

Interference occurs when a partner hinders one's goals or routines, while facilitation occurs when a partner helps achieve goals or makes routines easier.

Relational Load

The cumulative burden placed on a relationship when stressors are not effectively managed, leading to a depletion of relational resources.

Structural vs. Functional Support

Structural support refers to the size and density of one's social network, while functional support refers to the specific types of help (e.g., emotional, instrumental) provided by that network.

Psychological Reactance

A motivational state that occurs when people feel their freedom of choice is threatened, often leading them to resist persuasive or supportive messages.

What is relational uncertainty?

doubts and questions people have about their relationships

How do self, partner, and relationship uncertainty differ?

Self uncertainty: question of one's own commitment to a relationship
Partner uncertainty: doubt about your partner's commitment to the relationship
Relationship uncertainty: degree to which one is unsure about the nature or future of the relationship

What is interference and facilitation?

Interference from a partner: how your partner impedes or keeps you from achieving your goals
Facilitation from a partner: how your partner helps you to accomplish and complete your goals

What did Brisini & Taylor study? What were the results (paying attention to H1-3)?

Examine the associations between the relationship parameters of married parents (as described by RTT) and their communication during a disagreement related to parenting a teenager

As parenting stress increased, so did relationship uncertainty and interference from a partner
Parenting stress was not significantly associated with facilitation from a partner
As relationship uncertainty and interference from a partner go up, so does negative conflict communication (H2) and withdrawal (H3)
Facilitation from a partner was not significantly associated with negative conflict behavior or withdrawal

What are benefits of social support?

Adults have a 50% increased likelihood of survival compared to those with poor or insufficient social relationships
It is an indicator of wellbeing like other well-established risk factors (e.g., obesity, physical inactivity)
It impacts a person's health and well-being via emotion regulation processes
Stressors cause people to experience negative emotions and this is a coping resource that assists in regulating these negative emotional states

How are enacted and received support different?

Enacted support is what people actually do to help another person
Researchers of enacted support want to know what support is (and is not)
High levels of enacted support help improved coping and health
Sometimes support is enacted poorly and is unhelpful

What are the support types and how are they different (ex. emotion-focused vs problem-focused)?

Emotion-focused support: designed to help with emotional upset
Emotional support: nurturing
Esteem support: reassurances of worth
Network support: expressions of inclusion
Problem-focused strategies are all those strategies that are directed at resolving the problem
Instrumental: providing tangible aid
Informational: providing information for others

What is verbal person-centeredness?

Verbal immediacy may also be communicated by the degree to which the feelings, thoughts, and perspectives are acknowledged and legitimized

What are the 3 levels of person-centeredness? How do they differ?

High PC messages validate, recognize, or acknowledge the recipient's feelings and experiences (often considered the most effective form of comforting)
Moderate PC messages implicitly recognize the recipient's emotions by expressing sympathy or distracting attention from the situation
Low PC messages deny, criticize, or challenge the recipient's feelings

What is the role of nonverbal behavior in comforting?

The seven most common behaviors when supporting a friend:
Hugs (41.9%): Giving the person a whole-body hug or hugging them around the shoulder
Close proxemic distancing (40.9%): Sitting down next to the person or leaning closer
Facial expression (38.7%): Looking empathetic, sad, or concerned
Attentiveness (37.7%): Listening carefully and nodding as the person talked about the distressing event
Increased miscellaneous touch (34.4%): Using all forms of touch other than hugs or pats, such as holding the person's hand or stroking the person's hair
Pats (26.9%): Using short, repetitive movements such as patting the distressed person's arm or shoulder
Eye contact (23.7%): Looking directly at the distressed person, particularly while the person is talking

What did Brisini and Wang (2024) study and find? Namely: what is the relationship between LPC and HPC messages and relational closeness and psychological reactance?

study the ways in which characteristics of support interactions associate with psychological reacrance, and in turn, affect support outcomes

LPC Messages → More Psychological reactance
Relationship Closeness → More Support Quality
Psychological Reactance → Less Support Quality
H1: In the context of a problem with a friend or romantic partner, (a) LPC messages (compared to HPC messages) are negatively associated with, and (b) relational closeness and (c) PSA are positively associated with perceptions of support quality
High LPC messages = reduced relational closeness
High PSA are associated with increased support quality
H1a and H1b supported, H1c was not.

What two things do message recipients need to fully process and consider supportive messages?

Relational closeness
Perceived support availability

What is the theory of resilience and relational load (TRRL)?

The theory assumes that when dyads maintain their relationships on a regular basis, they accumulate positive emotional reserves, which help protect their relationships

What is the goal of the TRRL?

can be used to explain why some dyads manage the stress better than others

What is TRRL's metatheoretical orientation?

Post-positive

What are the assumptions of TRRL?

Assumption 1:
People have an inherent need to feel loved, appreciated, and secure, and they can establish feelings of security through experiencing validating behaviors and actions with close others
Assumption 2:
Stress is natural and variable (can be good or bad)
Eustress: good stress fostered from a positive perception of a stressor
Distress: bad stress fostered from a negative perception of a stressor
A person's perception of the stress as good or bad is co-constructed with their partner
Assumption 3:
All relationships are constantly adjusting to stress and communication responses to stress
Resilience is a process of calibration (adjustment) where relational partners must continually assess how they are managing their relational stress and invest in their relationships to invigorate them, diffusing the stress and facilitating positive adaptation

What are relational maintenance behaviors?

Validating communicative maintenance behaviors and actions over time build positive emotional reserves
Emotional reserves reflect the accumulation of investments (i.e., maintenance)
Chronic emotional capital: the extent to which their partner engaged in 11 affectively positive behaviors in the last month

How do relational maintenance behaviors influence the ability to manage stressors?

The prolonged use of these types of behaviors and actions build emotional reserves that couples or families can draw upon later when they are stressed

What are security and threat appraisals?

Security-Based Appraisal:
When a person perceives a threat of the stressor but feels secure in their relationship, they are more likely to engage in constructive communication and problem-solving, fostering resilience
Threat-Based Appraisal:
Conversely, if a person perceives a stressor as a sign of instability or lack of commitment within the relationship, they may experience increased stress and negative coping mechanisms, potentially leading to relational load

What is relational load?

The "wear and tear" on a relationship as a result of chronic stress and conflict
May feel like:
Relational burnout
Loneliness
Depression
Dissatisfaction
Negative moods
Wanting to end the relationship

What are the goals of Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Theory (CNSM)?

The content and the process of storytelling and how it relates to individual and relational health and well-being

What are the metatheoretical assumptions for CNSM?

Defined as post-positive but has interpretive inspiration and leaning
Retrospective storytelling
Proposition 1: interpretive
Proposition 2: post-positive

Interactional storytelling
Proposition 3: post-positive
Proposition 4: post-positive
Proposition 5: post-positive

Translational storytelling
Proposition 6: post-positive
Proposition 7: post-positive

What is retrospective storytelling? Which propositions align with this part of the theory?

This heuristic (process/method of inquiry) is concerned with the lasting impact of the stories that people hear and tell

Proposition 1: the content of storytelling reveals individual, relational, and intergenerational meaning-making, values, and beliefs
Very broad proposition, here the focus is the totality of the story
The unit of analysis is the complete story
Researchers would examine what type of story is told

Proposition 2: retrospective storytelling content that is framed positively will be positively related to individual and relational health and well-being
Researchers examine "features" of stories to determine what affects health and well-being

What are the 4 sets of behaviors in storytelling?

(1) Engagement: the degree to which storytellers are warm and involved as they jointly tell a story
(2) Turn-taking: the ways in which relational members negotiate contributions to the telling, including the degree to which the telling is dynamic (i.e., interruptions and overlaps in talk) vs polite and/or stunted, and each partner's amount of talk time
(3) Communicated Perspective Taking (CPT): the degree to which interactional partners attend both verbally and nonverbally to each other's point of view, including confirming and disagreeing with the other's perspective
(4) Coherence: the degree to which storytelling is both organized and integrated

What is translational storytelling?

Uses narrative theories, methods, and empirical results to create interventions and/or applications designed to improve individual and/or relational well-being

What are the propositions that align with translational storytelling?

Proposition 6: interventions that promote narrative reflection and sense-making benefit participants in the context of difficulty, trauma, illness, and/or stress
Proposition 7: interventions that incorporate (a) positive narrative (re)framing techniques and/or (b) high levels of ISM will result in benefits for individuals and families in the context of difficulty, trauma, illness, and/or stress
6 777777

What are 6 behaviors that occur during communicated perspective taking?

(Dis)agreement
Attentiveness
Ir(relevant) contributions
(Un)coordination
Positive (or negative) tone
Freedom (constraint)

What did Scharp et al. (2020) study, how did they do their research, and what did they find?

explore the stories that adult children recall being told about themselves by their parents
Communicated Narrative Sense-Making is the theory guiding this work

Participants were adult children who recounted a story their parents told about them to other people. Researchers used "narrative interviews," and participants were told to think of themselves as the authors of a novel, doing their best to share the story as their parents tell it.

Four types of identities became apparent:
(1) the prodigal child
(2) the special child
(3) the party pooper
(4) the child of misfortune
What types of perceived functions do the stories adult children recall their parents telling about them play?
(1) to tease
(2) to show pride
(3) to rebuke
(4) to entertain

What is the special child?

Stories about their child's unique behaviors while also emphasizing how this uniqueness still characterizes their adult child today

What is the party pooper?

Children were not engaging in particularly bad behaviors. Instead, such children were presented as though they were enacting behaviors that made an experience less enjoyable for their parents, often through the act of taking on responsibility beyond what might be expected of them

What is the child of misfortune?

presented as those who had something bad happen to them beyond their control

What did Kellas et al. (2021) study, how did they do their research, and what did they find?

Investigate if telling a story has benefits for tellers, To examine how storylistening impacts interpersonal perceptions

Participants brought a willing friend to participate in the study with them
Upon arrival, participants were randomly assigned to the role of listener or teller and separated to complete questionnaires, Storytellers were instructed to tell their story, and listeners were instructed to interact as they normally would

H1: Higher levels of CPT will predict higher levels of storytellers' perception of their friend's (a) communication competence, (b) CPT, and lower levels of (c) face threatening behaviors immediately following a storytelling conversation about difficulty
Results show that higher levels of observed CPT were related to higher levels of tellers' perceptions of friends' communication competence, and lower levels of their friends' face threatening behaviors
Thus, H1 was supported.
The CPTRS dimensions of agreement, identity, and affective tone all relate significantly and positively to tellers' perceptions of their friends' communication competence, CPT, and negatively to perceived face threat
Observed global attentiveness and global confirmation were significantly related to both tellers' perceptions of their friends' CPT and face threat
H2: Higher levels of CPT will predict higher levels of storytellers' (a) mental health, (b) life satisfaction, (c) positive affect and lower levels of storytellers' (d) negative affect immediately following a storytelling conversation about difficulty
Higher levels of CPT were not related to teller's psychosocial well-being following the storytelling interaction
Thus, H2 was not supported.

Communication Perspective Taking Rating System (CPTRS)

Conversational (in)attentiveness includes verbal and nonverbal behaviors that signal (dis)engagement in the interaction (e.g., eye contact, nodding; tuning out)
Creating space to talk is the degree to which partners share the floor and encourage each other to share their opinions (e.g., waiting for the other person to finish; interrupting)
(Dis)agreement/(mis)understanding refers to the communication of (dis)similarity, (in)consistency in perspective, style, or understanding (e.g., agreeing; correcting the other person)
Affective tone refers to certain behaviors that set the tone, tenor, or mood of the interaction (e.g., showing kindness; being sarcastic)
Validating partner identity is the extent to which partners communicate (in)validation and acceptance of their partner as a person (e.g., verbally validating the other person's actions; undermining the person's view of self)
Global attentiveness to others' perspectives measures the overall presence of perspective-taking and partners' integration of each other's perspectives into a meaningful discussion of the difficulty
Global confirmation of others' perspectives is the degree to which the overall interaction consists of confirming perspectives of the other

Data verification

Peer debriefing: a researcher discusses their work with a knowledgeable peer to critique interpretations, identify biases, and enhance the rigor and trustworthiness of their research findings
Negative case analysis: researchers purposefully identify and examine data that contradict a developing theme; By exploring these "negative" or "deviant" cases - those that don't fit the emerging explanation - researchers gain a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon improving the study's rigor and validity
Audit trail: chronological record of activities; a history of who did what, when, and how, ensuring accountability, transparency, and data integrity
Exemplar identification: process of finding and recognizing representative examples, or "exemplars," which are entities that perfectly or typically embody a particular concept

What is self-presentation and other-presentation?

Self-presentation: ways a communicator conveys a desired impression to others
Other-presentation: ways third parties create impressions of others

What is Communicated Perspective Taking (CPT)?

the degree to which interactional partners attend both verbally and nonverbally to each other's point of view, including confirming and disagreeing with the other's perspective

What is the value of emotional support?

Emotional support has emerged as the most important type that leads to emotional improvement
A main reason for this powerful finding lies in the most unique nature of social support itself:
A stressor causes an emotional experience (e.g., anxiety, sadness, frustration)
with concrete cognitive (e.g., racing thoughts)
affective (e.g., feeling bad)
and physiological (e.g., elevated heart rate) reactions
Emotional support assists the upset person in regulating these emotions via cognitive reppraisals

What is emotional support? (emotion-focused)

Nurturing

What is network support? (emotion-focused)

Expressions of inclusion

What is instrumental support? (problem-focused)

Providing tangible aid

What is informational support? (problem-focused)

Providing information for others

Relational Turbulence Theory

A theory describing how transitions in relationships create turbulence, characterized by increased relational uncertainty and interference from partners, which complicates communication.

Relational Uncertainty

The degree of confidence individuals have in their perceptions of a relationship. Self-uncertainty concerns one's own involvement, partner uncertainty concerns the partner's involvement, and relationship uncertainty concerns the nature of the relationship itself.

Social Support

Verbal and nonverbal behaviors intended to assist others. Enacted support is the actual supportive actions performed, while perceived support is the belief that support is available if needed.

Verbal Person-Centeredness

The extent to which a message reflects an awareness of and adaptation to the subjective, affective, and relational aspects of a communicative context. The three levels are low (denying feelings), moderate (implicitly acknowledging feelings), and high (explicitly recognizing and elaborating on feelings).

Theory of Resilience and Relational Load

A theory proposing that relationships function as a resource to manage stress. Its goal is to explain how communal orientation and maintenance behaviors build resilience against relational load.

Communal Orientation

The tendency to respond to a partner's needs without expecting immediate reciprocation, viewing the relationship as a shared unit.

Security vs. Threat Appraisals

Security appraisals involve viewing the relationship as a safe haven for stress management, while threat appraisals involve viewing the relationship as a source of stress or instability.

Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Theory (CNSM)

A theory focusing on how individuals and families use storytelling to make sense of experiences, manage identity, and maintain relationships.

Retrospective Storytelling

The process of telling stories about past events to construct meaning and identity after the event has occurred.

Interactional Storytelling

The process of co-constructing stories through conversation, where participants negotiate the meaning of shared experiences.

Translational Storytelling

The process of adapting stories for different audiences or contexts to achieve specific communicative goals or therapeutic outcomes.

Communicated Perspective Taking

The process of verbally and nonverbally demonstrating an understanding of another person's viewpoint, which is essential for effective sense-making.

Relational Maintenance Behaviors

Actions taken to keep a relationship in a desired state, such as positivity, openness, assurances, social networking, and sharing tasks.

Supportive Communication

Verbal and nonverbal behavior produced with the intent of providing assistance to others perceived as needing that aid.

Emotion-focused vs. Problem-focused Support

Emotion-focused support aims to alleviate negative affect and provide comfort, whereas problem-focused support aims to provide information or resources to resolve the underlying issue.

Role of Nonverbal Behavior in Comforting

Nonverbal behaviors, such as touch, eye contact, and proximity, serve to signal empathy, warmth, and presence, which are crucial for the effectiveness of verbal support.

When you are uncertain about the future of your

relationship, you are experiencing?

Relationship uncertainty

When your partner gets in the way of your achieving your

goals, this is referred to as which of the following?

Interference

Chaotic to stable, calm to turbulent, tumultuous to running

smoothly, and peaceful to stressful are ways to measure

which of the following?

Turbulence

In Brisini & Taylor, the item “sometimes I question

whether or not my marriage is a romantic one” reflects

which variable?

Relationship uncertainty

According to Brisini and Taylor, which of the following were

supported?

Increased relationship uncertainty and interference from a

partner was associated with more negative conflict behavior

and withdrawal.

James was sick last week and missed both of his English classes. As

he prepares for his exam, he is worried as he doesn’t have the notes

he needs. When he tells his classmate Lizzie (who does have the

notes), she says, “That stinks. You’re a good student, and I’ll sure

you’ll work it out.” Her response is frustrating to James. Why?

He wanted problem-focused support and received emotion-

focused support

When Grace asked her friends if she could join them tonight

and meet them at the party, she was likely seeking which type

of support?

Network

Danielle explained that she wasn’t at the gym for the past

week because she had been sick and was getting over it. Her

friend from the gym said, “Oh, I’m sorry. That stinks! Glad to

see you back at the gym. I hope you’re feeling better!”

This is an example of which form of person-centered

message:

Moderate verbal person centeredness

Assuming the stressor was recent and you are close to the

person who is stressed and needs support, which type of

supportive message is associated with the best improvement

outcomes?

High verbal person centeredness

According to Brisini and Wang, increased use of low person-

centered messages is associated with which outcome?

Increased psychological reactance

What is the goal of the theory of resilience and relational

load?

To determine why some couples do better than others

in the face of stressor

What is the value of daily relational maintenance

behaviors?

They are investments in the relationships

They are influence resilience calibration and reduce

the perception of stress in stressful events

They create emotional reserves that couples and

families can call upon later when needed

Which term describes the how a couple manages a stressor as

“my stressor,” “your stressor,” or “our stressor”?

Communal orientation

The following item represents which study variable?

“I feel emotionally drained from my romantic relationship.”

Relational load

Which of the following result was supported in the Salehuddin

et al. (2023) study?

The greater an individual’s communal coping at the

beginning of the pandemic, the lower their conflict across

the other 3 time periods.

There are two different metatheoretical orientations represented in

communicated narrative sense making. Which types of storytelling are

postpositive and which are interpretive?

Proposition 1 is interpretive, 2-7 are post-positive

Mario’s research project includes analyzing narratives about

people’s experiences using artificial intelligence to help them

achieve their work tasks. His results demonstrate three

themes of AI as a tool, AI as confusing, and AI as replacing

individual effort and thought. He is studying narrative in

which fashion:

Retrospective storytelling

In Scharp et al., the authors identified four types of stories that parents tell about their children. How would they likely identify the following story? When Ben was 2 years old, his parents took him to Disney World, and they were so excited to see him experience it. They scheduled breakfast with the Winnie the Pooh characters. However, Ben was petrified of every character whose costume covered their head. He spent more time in Disney screaming in fear than they had imagined would happen, shifting the trip’s vibe from “magic” to “oh, poor Baby Ben.”

The Party Pooper

As described in the interactional storytelling heuristic, there are

four interactional sense-making behaviors. Which has the greatest

impact

Communicated Perspective Taking

– the degree to which interactional partners attend both verbally and

nonverbally to each other’s point of view, including confirming and

disagreeing with the other’s perspective