Human Relations: Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills, 12e (DuBrin)
Chapter 4 Interpersonal Communication
4.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1) A major purpose of feedback in interpersonal communication is to
A) know whether a message has been received and understood.
B) prevent noise from taking place.
C) make the sender appear more impressive.
D) size up the climate for communication.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
2) The two dimensions of using interpersonal communication to build relationships are
A) assertive-aggressive, and passive-assertive.
B) happy-unhappy, and extraversion-introversion.
C) interest-disinterest, and honest-dishonest.
D) dominant-subordinate, and cold-warm.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
3) Brandy and Melissa are warm acquaintances, so when they communicate they
A) are likely to compete to subordinate.
B) emphasize nonverbal rather than verbal communication.
C) presume a relationship of equals.
D) are likely to compete to dominate.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
4) The purpose of nonverbal communication is to
A) convey the feeling behind the message.
B) clarify the spoken word.
C) repeat the spoken word.
D) prevent the spoken word from being interpreted too literally.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
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5) Bruce, a manufacturing supervisor, sends a mixed message (in the technical meaning of the
term) to his group members when he
A) speaks mostly English and some Spanish during the meeting.
B) tells the group that he likes some of what the group is accomplishing but not every thing.
C) wants to increase both quality and quantity of the group’s output.
D) arrives fifteen minutes late to a meeting he is holding to discuss the importance of
promptness.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
6) The aspect of nonverbal communication offering the clearest indication of interpersonal
attitudes is
A) facial expressions.
B) gestures.
C) interpersonal distance.
D) posture.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
7) A study of over 100 speeches given by business executives indicated that, in terms of impact,
the sound of the speaker’s voice
A) had one-half the impact of the content of the message.
B) had twice the impact of the content of the message.
C) was irrelevant so long as it was not squeaky or too low.
D) was a determining factor in terms of whether the raters would even listen to the message.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
8) Supervisor Barney often consults his iPhone while coaching people in his department. Most
employees are likely to think that Barney
A) cares about them enough to electronically record their conversation.
B) is on the fast track to the executive suite.
C) dislikes being a supervisor.
D) does not think they are very important.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
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9) Which one of the following characteristics of a message is the least likely to encounter
barriers?
A) factual
B) complex
C) emotionally arousing
D) clashes with the receiver’s mental set
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
10) Dora, a customer care supervisor, is highly trusted within her company. So when Dora sends
a spoken or written message to work associates, her message
A) is likely to be misunderstood because so few people in business are honest.
B) has a good chance of being received as intended.
C) will most likely encounter barriers because trust is not valued in customer care.
D) will most likely be received with defensiveness from associates who themselves are
dishonest.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
11) A key part of empathy is to imagine yourself placed in another person’s role, and then
A) quickly shift to your own role.
B) ask the person something to the effect, “So what’s your problem?”
C) pay the person a big compliment, such as, “You are great in your role.”
D) assume the viewpoints and emotions of that individual.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
12) Defensive communication often occurs because the receiver is attempting to
A) create communication barriers.
B) confuse the sender.
C) impress the sender.
D) protect his or her self-esteem.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
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13) Your manager discusses your job performance with you. She says, “Could you summarize for
me what I’ve told you?” Your manager is attempting to overcome communication barriers by the
method of
A) asking for feedback.
B) appealing to human motivation.
C) being a positive person.
D) using multiple channels.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
14) To help overcome communication barriers, after you receive a message,
A) check for the feelings related to the message.
B) take the message at face value to avoid communicating distrust.
C) ask the sender to repeat the message twice.
D) immediately respond, “Are you telling me the truth?”
AACSB: Application of knowledge
15) The least useful of the following for communicating persuasively is to
A) establish goals as you go along in your presentation.
B) explore the reasons for a person’s objections.
C) use power words.
D) develop fallback positions.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
16) An example of converting a noun into a verb in relation to Twitter, would be
A) “I will Twitter you tonight.”
B) “I will send you a tweet tonight.”
C) “How often do you check your Twitter page?”
D) “Twitter is used to send tweets.”
AACSB: Written and oral communication
17) A major challenge in developing good listening skills is that
A) most people speak more quickly than most people process information.
B) most people process information more quickly than most people speak.
C) too many people compete with each other to be good listeners.
D) listening is discouraged in many jobs involving people contact.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
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18) A comment from a supervisor that might shut down or limit conversation would be
A) “Tell me more, that’s interesting.”
B) “But, I’ve heard that argument many times.”
C) “More details would be useful.”
D) “How did you get this information?”
AACSB: Written and oral communication
19) To be an effective listener, a person should
A) avoid the insult of paraphrasing the sender’s message.
B) help the sender finish his or her message.
C) use certain words to shut down discussion.
D) accept the sender’s figure of speech.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
20) The person who does not listen actively often has to
A) pretend to have been paying attention.
B) put effort into paraphrasing what has been said.
C) minimize distractions.
D) show listening intent through body language.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
21) A recommended technique for dealing with a stressful conversation is to
A) rehearse in advance what you intend to say.
B) use intimidation tactics during the conversation.
C) hold the conversation on Monday.
D) hold the conversation on Friday.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
22) When two people metacommunicate, they
A) misinterpret what each other is saying.
B) agree to disagree.
C) agree to agree.
D) communicate about how they are communicating.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
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23) Sue and Rob work together on the same team, and Sue observes that Rob typically frowns
when she offers a work-related suggestion. Sue would be metacommunicating about this problem
when she
A) says to Rob, “I notice that you seem displeased when I offer a suggestion.”
B) sends an e-mail to the team leader describing the frowning problem.
C) retaliates by frowning when Rob makes a suggestion.
D) places a decal with a smiley face on the partition to Rob’s cubicle.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
24) A communication style difference noted between men and women is that men are more likely
to
A) use conversation for rapport building.
B) want empathy more than solutions.
C) use talk to display knowledge and skill.
D) compliment the work of a coworker.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
25) A communication style difference noted between men and women is that women are more
likely to
A) talk out solutions to problems with another person.
B) want solutions rather than empathy when talking about problems.
C) be directive in conversation.
D) be critical of the work of coworkers.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
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Job Scenario, Multiple-Choice
Sally is a supervisor in the park services bureau of her state. Today she is charged with the task
of explaining to the people in her department that because of severe budget cuts, (a) three of the
state parks will not open next year, and (b) all salaries will be frozen, effective the first of the
year. A couple of people in the department seem to accept the reality of the consequences of the
budget cuts, but many others appear confused and angry. One of the workers shouts, “Tell the
governor to take a 50% pay cut.” Another says with a look of disbelief, “Closing a park is
unconstitutional.”
26) To help overcome the potential communication barriers her message may have created, Sally
is best advised to say
A) “Please keep your ridiculous comments to yourself.”
B) “Let’s end the face-to-face discussion right now. Send all other comments you might have to
me by e-mail.”
C) “This discussion has turned far too negative. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
D) “I understand that what I am saying is quite disappointing to some of you. So let’s talk about
the problem.”
AACSB: Analytical thinking
27) To display active listening, Sally might make this comment to the worker who said, “Closing
the park is unconstitutional.”
A) “Don’t be a jerk. Your job could be in jeopardy.”
B) “You are concerned about the legality of the park closings.”
C) “Quick, will you bring up a copy of the constitution on your laptop?”
D) “And since when have you been appointed as the Bureau of Parks lawyer?”
AACSB: Reflective thinking
4.2 True/False Questions
1) Communication technology has made person-to-person communication almost irrelevant in
today’s business world.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
2) Communication includes the sending, receiving, and understanding of messages.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
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3) The typical communication pattern is for a person who sends a cold message to receive a
warm message in return.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
4) According to a psychologist cited in the human relations text, when warm acquaintances
communicate they tend to take turns being dominant and subordinate.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
5) A teammate of yours who talks frequently about the problems of global warming, yet drives a
sports car that gets nine miles per gallon is sending a mixed message.
AACSB: Analytical thinking
6) An effective way of projecting self-confidence is to show good posture both when standing as
well as while sitting in a chair.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
7) Dominant people tend to direct their gestures outward.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
8) An effective way to make another person feel important when you are communicating with
him or her is to multitask.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
9) An effective method of mirroring a person not as tall as you, is to slump down to match his or
her height.
AACSB: Analytical thinking
10) Lying requires extra mental effort, so the liar will often give longer pauses between thoughts
and use fewer hand and head movements.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
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11) People who are not trusted are more likely to receive honest communication from others
because of the fear factor.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
12) Empathy involves imagining yourself in the other person’s role and assuming the viewpoints
and emotions of that person.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
13) Brain research suggests that we receive help in empathizing with others because certain brain
circuits reflect the actions and intentions of others as if they were our own.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
14) A major purpose of defensive communication is to protect one’s self-esteem.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
15) People who are experiencing information overload are more likely to respond effectively to
messages because these people are more mentally alert.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
16) Having a positive attitude typically creates a communication barrier because most people
will think you are hiding the truth.
AACSB: Application of knowledge
17) Raising your voice at the end of most sentences adds to your persuasiveness.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
18) “Wimp” phrases are useful for persuasive e communication because they make the speaker
in control of his or her actions.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
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19) A key component of active listening is to ask closed-ended questions like, “Do you agree
with me?”
AACSB: Reflective thinking
20) Julio wants to be an effective active listener, so he checks to see if the sender’s nonverbal
communication fits his or her verbal communication.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
21) Marcus displays an element of active listening when he uses the same figure of speech as a
person sending a message to him.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
22) Juliette wants to be an active listener, so she helps receivers by frequently finishing sentences
for them.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
23) Sales representative Brian engages in temperate phrasing when he says to a customer, “If
you are so stupid you cannot explain what you want, I won’t be able to help you.”
AACSB: Application of knowledge
24) You engage in metacommunications when you communicate with another person, your
perception of how well you two are communicating.
AACSB: Interpersonal relations and teamwork
25) A gender difference in communication styles is that women tend to be more directive in their
conversation, whereas men emphasize politeness.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
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