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Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1
Chapter 8 Test Bank: Conflict Management Skills
Multiple Choice Questions
1) Karah, a teenager, rolls her eyes and walks away when her mother orders her to clean her
room. Karah and her mother are using one of the least satisfying approaches to conflict
management:
A) demand-withdrawal pattern.
B) destructive-aggressive pattern.
C) confrontation-avoidance pattern.
D) passive-aggressive pattern.
2) Yakov sees Sven in the quad and says, “Hey, Sven. Where were you? I thought we were
going to meet at McDonald’s for lunch.” Sven responds, “Hey, man. I was there. Where were
you?” Yakov says, “I was there at noon, like we agreed, and waited 30 minutes for you to
show up.” Sven says, “I was there at noon and didn’t see you. Hey, wait a minute. Which
McDonald’s did you go to? I was at the one on campus.” Yakov says, “Well that explains it.
I was at the one on the main highway.” What kind of conflict does this situation reflect?
A) simple conflict
B) pseudoconflict
C) ego conflict
D) complex conflict
3) Darius wants to sit in his easy chair and listen to his music, loudly. LaShawn, his roommate,
needs some quiet time to study for a major exam the next day. If Darius listens to his music,
LaShawn won’t be able to study. What kind of conflict does this situation reflect?
A) simple conflict
B) pseudoconflict
C) ego conflict
D) complex conflict
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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4) Which myth about conflict has someone accepted if he or she believes that if only we listen
harder and paraphrase, conflicts can be solved?
A) Conflict can always be avoided.
B) Conflict always occurs because of misunderstandings.
C) Conflict can always be resolved.
D) Conflict is always bad.
5) The fact that people do have incompatible goals and experience scarce resources contradicts
this myth about conflict:
A) Conflict can always be avoided.
B) Conflict always occurs because of misunderstandings.
C) Conflict can always be resolved.
D) Conflict is always a sign of a poor interpersonal relationship.
6) Camille and Larry have been arguing a lot lately about the best way to deal with their
children when they misbehave. In dealing with this issue, they started discussing how the two
of them interact when they disagree on something and are taking steps to tone down the high
emotional level of their discussions. Which of the following types of conflict does their
experience represent?
A) instrumental conflict
B) active conflict
C) constructive conflict
D) expressive conflict
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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7) What kind of conflict do inflexibility and a win-lose perspective characterize?
A) expressive conflict
B) social conflict
C) active conflict
D) destructive conflict
8) In what stage of the conflict process does self-talk about differences and growing
dissatisfaction about the problem start to occur?
A) prior conditions
B) frustration awareness
C) active conflict
D) resolution
9) What stage of the conflict process is involved when Tobias, realizing he keeps putting the
toothbrush holder back out on the bathroom counter after Rachel keeps putting it away in the
bathroom cabinet, finally says to Rachel, “Darn it all! Will you stop putting the toothbrush
holder in the cabinet?”
A) prior conditions
B) frustration awareness
C) active conflict
D) aftermath
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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10) Gunny-sacking is
A) holding a grudge.
B) dredging up old problems and issues from the past.
C) an effective conflict strategy.
D) a way of managing a lot of information.
11) Rob is extremely angry with Beth about something he heard she said about him to a mutual
friend. When he approaches Beth, Rob is surprised when she starts talking about all the bad
things Rob has done to her in the past. Beth is engaging in
A) gunny-sacking.
B) self-talk.
C) reflective memory.
D) information management.
12) Heather and William are planning their son’s first birthday party and are inviting both of
their extended families to celebrate. Just as they dreaded, Heather’s aunt Sonja declines her
invitation because she dislikes some of William’s relatives and refuses to be in the same
room with them. Heather calls and tries to reason with Sonja, who remains steadfast; in fact,
her suggestion is that they throw separate parties for each side of the family. Heather and
William are left sad and tired that this rift continues to arise each time they try to arrange a
family function. Heather and William seem to be facing which of the following myths about
conflict?
A) Conflict can always be avoided.
B) Conflict always occurs because of misunderstandings.
C) Conflict can always be resolved.
D) Conflict is always a sign of a poor interpersonal relationship.
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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13) According to the “struggle spectrum,” which of the following is closest to the “fight” end of
the scale?
A) disagreement
B) campaign
C) litigation
D) dispute
14) The “back story” to a conflict includes the degree to which a person is able to influence his or
her partner. This is known as
A) interpersonal power.
B) conflict control.
C) relational persuasion.
D) patterned coercion.
15) Alistair’s friend Ivana is going to go to a baseball game tonight and she has asked him to go
along. He wants to go, but also wants to stay home and relax after a difficult week at work.
He feels torn in two directions and wants to do the game AND wants to stay home. This is an
example of which of the following?
A) dialectical tension
B) gunny-sacking
C) flaming
D) disinhibition effect
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Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
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C) low concern for self, high concern for others
D) low concern for self, low concern for others
20) Which of the following conflict management styles reflects a high concern for others and a
low concern for self?
A) competition
B) collaboration
C) accommodation
D) avoidance
21) Stuart wanted Jen to change the date of their family holiday dinner. When she didn’t comply,
he said, “If you don’t change the date, I won’t attend the event!” This tactic is defined in the
text as
A) bullying.
B) upper-hand persuasion.
C) compliance gaining.
D) coercion.
22) While communicating online with a fellow student in his psychology class, Brent finds that a
conflict begins between the two of them. After a few minutes, Brent has had about all he can
take, tensions begin to increase and to run high, and he loses his inhibitions. The conflict
between the two escalates. This is an example of which of the following?
A) “I” language
B) disinhibition effect
C) avoidance
Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
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D) accommodation
23) Claire is a mentor in an after-school program and works well with her group. When she
recently told several boys they needed to buckle down and complete their schoolwork, they
readily obliged. This demonstrates what source of power?
A) referent power
B) expert power
C) reward power
D) legitimate power
24) Alexandra demands that Robert begin to talk to her in a different way than is natural for him.
He does not want to cause more friction between the two of them, so he changes the subject
and asks her if she has finished her paper that is due Monday in their anthropology class. In
this case, Robert has engages in which of the following?
A) gunny-sacking
B) accommodation
C) compromise
D) the demand-withdrawal pattern of conflict management
25) We experience physical changes when we are emotionally charged, including our adrenaline
flowing faster, our strength increasing, our livers demanding more oxygen, our blood supply
to our brains decreasing, and more blood being diverted to our extremities. Such changes fuel
our
A) fight-flight responses.
B) cognitive thinking.
Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
C) interpersonal power.
D) dialectical tension.
1) The prime experiences in life that shape how we learn to express and manage conflict occur
in the families in which we grew up.
2) We should do everything we can to eliminate conflict from our relationships.
3) Interdependent means that people do not need to rely on another—what one person does or
says has little effect on the other.
4) Power exists in all relationships and derives from the ability to meet a person’s needs.
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Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
with “I” language.
10) When using effective listening, sometimes the best thing to do after describing the conflict-
producing events is simply to wait for a response.
11) An avoidance conflict management style reflects low concern for the self but high concern
for the other person.
12) Evidence suggests that husbands are more likely to avoid confrontation as a way of managing
conflict with their wives.
13) People with a competition conflict management style have a lose-lose philosophy.
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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14) The compromise style is called “a lose/win–lose/win” approach to conflict.
15) The goal of managing conflict is as much about managing relationship issues as it is about
solving problems.
1) Interpersonal conflict includes four elements. What are they?
2) Name, describe, and give an example of each of the three types of interpersonal conflict.
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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3) Identify and briefly describe the five stages of the conflict process.
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Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
on a schedule and responsibilities for chores. At first, all went well. Then gradually, week
after week, one excuse after another, your roommate began to fail to follow through. At first
it was no big deal—a dish here, a sock there. But now your roommate has left dishes in the
sink for three days and hasn’t taken out the trash in a week; the bathroom is a mess,
especially the shower. And the last straw is the large mustard stain that recently appeared in
the middle of the living room carpet. You are furious. You’ve let it slide long enough and
decide to let her know how you feel.
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Beebe, Beebe and Redmond - Interpersonal Communication, 8e Testbank
Using the details of the story, identify the stages of the conflict process that Carla and Doug
went through.
9) Using specific examples, explain how each of the five conflict management styles: (1)
avoidance, (2) accommodation, (3) competition, (4) compromise, and (5) collaboration, are
related to the dimensions of concern for self and concern for others.
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10) Identify several strategies for seeking compliance in an interpersonal relationship. Choose
three and describe three situations in which these would be effective.
