Chapter 5 Conflict Styles
EXAM QUESTIONS:
Chapter 5
True/False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Conflict _____ are patterned responses, or clusters of behavior, that people use in conflict.
a. beliefs
b. styles
c. assumptions
d. values
e. habits
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2. You are more likely to dominate than oblige when you score high on which of the following?
a. Concern for self
b. Concern for others
c. Concern for relationship
d. Self-actualization
e. Other-orientation
3. Rahim identified five conflict styles that individuals use in a variety of conflict situations.
The number 3 in the grid above corresponds with which of the following styles?
a. Obliging
b. Dominating
c. Avoidance
d. Compromising
e. Integration
4. Rahim identified five conflict styles that individuals use in a variety of conflict situations.
The number 5 in the grid above corresponds with which of the following styles?
a. Obliging
b. Dominating
c. Avoidance
d. Compromising
e. Integration
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5. In a conflict situation, if you try to use your authority to make a decision in your favor, you
are using which conflict style?
a. Avoidance
b. Dominating
c. Compromising
d. Obliging
e. Integrating
6. All of the following are examples of verbal aggression except:
a. character attacks.
b. ridicule.
c. requests for information.
d. profanity.
e. criticism.
7. Which of the following is a disadvantage of using obliging as a conflict style?
a. It tests the commitment of partners in a relationship when overused.
b. It can foster an undertone of competitiveness if people develop a pattern of
showing each other how nice they can be.
c. It is not worth the time and energy consumed if investment in the issue by the
parties involved in the conflict is very low.
d. It makes conflict simmer and heat up unnecessarily by discouraging dominant
behavior.
e. It presents the obliging parties as invested too heavily in a conflict situation.
8. Which of the following is true of patterns of violence?
a. Domestic abuse victims are least likely to be killed when they try to leave than at any
other time.
b. Women in general try to leave the scene rather than placate during a violent
confrontation.
c. Intimate violence is usually nonreciprocal.
d. Physical aggression is seldom preceded by verbal aggression.
e. Husbands are more likely than wives to minimize and deny their violence.
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9. Nicole and Ryan always disagree over where they should spend their holidays. Each time
Nicole tries to discuss this issue with Ryan, Ryan responds with a joke or changes the
subject. Ryan is using which style of conflict identified by Rahim in your text?
a. Obliging
b. Dominating
c. Avoidance
d. Compromise
e. Integration
10. Which of the following is a disadvantage of using domination as a style for managing
conflict?
a. Domination prioritizes external goals over the relationship between conflicting parties.
b. Conflicting parties are generally not equal in power.
c. Domination often reduces the options to an “either/or” status.
d. Domination can fuel more competition and reduce flexibility.
e. All of the answers are correct.
11. Rashid is responsible for taking care of his younger brother one afternoon a week, but he
does not like to come across as an “authority figure” with his brother. Instead, he prefers
to be viewed as a fun-loving brother. One afternoon, when his brother begins to jump on
the couch for the fourth time, Rashid tells him to quit or the little brother won’t be able to
go to his favorite restaurant the next day for their uncle’s birthday. Which of the
following best describes the credibility of Rashid’s threat?
a. It is not credible because Rashid appears unwilling to invoke the punishment.
b. It is not credible because Rashid does not control the outcome of the sanction.
c. It is credible because the punishment is not something to be avoided.
d. It is credible because Rashid seems willing to carry out the punishment.
e. It is not credible because it is not a negative sanction.
12. Conflict patterns that tend to mirror one another are called:
a. complementary patterns.
b. reciprocal patterns.
c. reflective patterns.
d. symmetrical patterns.
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e. redundant patterns.
13. Which of the following statements is true of the complementary patterns of conflict
interaction?
a. They are tactics that are different from one another but mutually reinforcing.
b. They occur in conflicts when the participants’ tactics mirror one another.
c. They occur when all the parties in a conflict escalate the issue.
d. They are styles of conflict that create a devitalized spiral.
e. They exclusively occur outside of business contexts.
Short-Answer/Essay Questions
1. What is the relationship between domination, threats, and verbal aggression?
2. List five communication characteristics that describe people who are rhetorically sensitive.
3. Hocker and Wilmot caution the readers about using the different styles of conflicts. Describe
these cautions, and discuss their implications for conflict management.
4. Differentiate between complementary and symmetrical patterns of conflict.
5. Identify at least two advantages and two disadvantages of each of the five conflict styles
identified by Rahim in your text.
6. Select one of the five conflict styles, and discuss how getting “stuck” in it can have negative
consequences.
7. Explain the difference between “aggressive” and “assertive” behavior using terminology from
the chapter and specific examples.