Chapter 3 Interests and Goals
EXAM QUESTIONS:
Chapter 3
True/False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Steve and Bonnie disagree on how to spend the money they received from their tax refund.
Steve wants to take the family on a trip to Seattle, but Bonnie wants to save it for a rainy day.
What type of goal does this conflict interaction represent?
a. Process
b. Topic
c. Identity
d. Relational
e. Facework
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2. What type of goal does the statement “Well, you don’t have to be so nasty about it” most
likely reflect?
a. Relational
b. Prospective
c. Retrospective
d. Identity
e. Transactive
3. A newlywed couple was having trouble resolving their marital disputes. The husband felt like
he was trying to solve all the problems because his wife would not take him seriously during
their discussions and would do something else like cleaning dishes. So, they decided that they
would have a “meeting” to discuss issues whenever they arose. The meeting would be at a time
where they would shut out all distractions and discuss the situation until they find a solution.
What is the paramount goal in this situation?
a. Topic
b. Relationship
c. Identity
d. Process
e. All of the answers are correct.
4. Which of the following are considered to be the “drivers” of disputes?
a. Topic and relationship
b. Relationship and identity
c. Identity and process
d. Process and topic
e. Topic and identity
5. Relationship goals refer to those that answer which of the following questions?
a. “What do we want?”
b. “Who are we to each other?”
c. “Who am I in this interaction?”
d. “What communication process will be used?”
e. “How do others define our relationship?”
6. Which of the following statements is not true about relational issues and identity?
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a. Identity issues do not affect relational messages.
b. Every statement carries a relational message.
c. We each translate or interpret relational messages differently.
d. Relational interests carry more urgency than topic interests.
e. Our relational interests are triggered in reaction to another person’s behavior.
7. Tyler is a young, naturally gifted athlete. Unfortunately, his work ethic does not match his
talent. When he finished sixth in a competition rather than his expected first or second place, he
spent a great deal of time and energy telling people how the judges were biased against him.
Tyler is using which of the following face-saving strategies?
a. Refusing to step back from a position
b. Claiming unjust intimidation
c. Suppressing conflict issues
d. Helping others increase their self-esteem
e. Avoiding giving directives
8. Which of the following represents an attempt to save face in a conflict?
a. A person refuses support from outside parties when he or she feels unjustly treated.
b. A person de-escalates a conflict situation because he or she has high self-esteem.
c. A person acknowledges that a conflict exists over which he or she does not have
complete control.
d. A person involved in a conflict focuses more on topic goals than relational or
identity goals.
e. A person who no longer feels comfortable with an earlier position chooses to stay
with it, even in light of new information.
9. Which of the following is not true about the nature of overlapping TRIP goals?
a. Interests overlap with each other and differ in primacy.
b. Identity and relationship issues underlie topic and process issues.
c. In a serious dispute, content-only solutions are typically the most satisfying.
d. Conflict parties often specialize in one kind of goal.
e. Goals may emerge in a different form.
10. Which of the following is a feature of conflict goals?
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a. Topic goals emerge in all types of disputes.
b. Conflict goals always emerge in the same form.
c. Process issues are more important drivers of disputes than identity issues.
d. Conflict parties often specialize in one kind of conflict goal.
e. Topic-only solutions are the most satisfying to conflict parties in serious disputes.
11. Transactive goals develop:
a. during conflict episodes rather than before or after.
b. after conflict episodes rather than before or during the episodes.
c. before conflict episodes rather than during or after.
d. whenever there is the possibility of transforming the relationship.
e. only when transactional communication takes place.
12. Retrospective goals are the ones that:
a. annoy our conflict partners the most.
b. are emergent and understood most when the crisis has passed.
c. give us a sense of clarity of the implications of a conflict when we look back on it.
d. we come into a conflict hoping to accomplish.
e. we have had for years with respect to a given topic.
13. Hocker and Wilmot summarize several advantages of clarifying your goals when in a conflict
with another person. Which of the following is not an advantage identified?
a. Clear goals are reached more often than unclear ones.
b. Clear goals can be altered more easily than vague ones.
c. Only clear goals can be shared.
d. Solutions go unrecognized if you don’t know what you want.
e. Knowing the other’s goals helps you manipulate the situation to get what you want.
14. In a conflict situation between you and another person, if you work to reach your own goal
while simultaneously trying to please the other person, you are upholding which of the following
statements on the author’s checklist for “good goals”?
a. Short-, medium-, and long-range issues are addressed.
b. Goals are behaviorally specific.
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c. Statements orient toward the present and the future.
d. Goals recognize interdependence.
e. Collaborative goals recognize an ongoing process.
Short-Answer/Essay Questions
1. Hocker and Wilmot provide the acronym “TRIP” to help us remember issues related to
differing conflict goals. Describe the different goals, and then use a conflict of your own to
explain the ways in which each is relevant to your understanding of that conflict.
2. Explain how the goals in a conflict can change over time. Be sure to use the terms from the
text in your explanation.
3. Briefly describe a conflict you have experienced in the last couple of weeks. Visually
represent that conflict using the overlapping TRIP goals. In addition to your own goals, visually
4. Describe and provide an example of the relationship between identity goals and face-saving.
5. In what contexts might you damage your own face? What do you gain and/or lose by that
communication choice?
6. What are some ways you can help the other person in a conflict with you “save face”? What
impact might these strategies have on the conflict?
7. Why do parties in conflict sometimes get stuck on “topic” goals? Discuss the challenges you
perceive in trying to identify your identity and relational goals during a conflict. (These two
questions suggest that identifying relational and identity goals make sense when we read about
them. How does it play out in real life?)
8. What are the features of conflict goals? Provide an example for each feature.