Marriage and Family Communication Styles Quiz

Passive

• People with this style do not express their honest feelings or desires.

• They defer to others’ opinions instead of voicing their own (i.e. “I don’t care; it doesn’t matter to me; you decide”, etc.).

• These want to avoid conflict and may believe their rights are not as important as those of others.

Aggressive

•This style behaves opposite of the passive.

•They demand their opinions, desires, and needs are met, even at the expense of others’ rights.

•They rarely defer to others.  Sends message of “what I want is more important than what you want.”.

Passive-aggressive

•This style will forfeit their feelings and desires initially but then will subtly convey anger or seek vengeance later.

•Their goal is to avoid conflict, but they will then use tactics to make the other parties wish they had seen things their way.

• Typical pattern is to behave passively to a person’s face then become more aggressive when the person is not around

Assertive

•This style expresses their feelings, rights, and desires without violating the rights of others. 

•Assertiveness is the middle ground between passive and aggressive communication.

It is asking clearly and directly what you want while being considerate to others