Chapter 3
Multiple Choice
1. After Maggie and Jen get engaged, they want to post the good news on Facebook, but they also
want to keep the secret “just between them” for a couple days. Which dialectic tension are they
managing?
a. Inclusion-seclusion
b. Conventionality-uniqueness
c. Revelation-concealment
d. Autonomy-connection
2. The day after they get engaged, Maggie wants to post their engagement on Facebook so that
“all our friends can be excited for us!” Jen wants to wait a few days, but decides to go along with
Maggie and post their engagement on Facebook. Which dialectical management strategy did
they use?
a. Separation
b. Selection
c. Cyclic Alteration
d. Reframing
3. Of the theories discussed in this course, which focus on the tensions inherent in family
communication?
a. Circumplex model
b. Family systems
c. Narrative theory
d. Relational dialectics theory
4. Angela and Alberto enjoy spending evenings together with their children sharing in deep
conversations. Their children go to school and are encouraged to join school or community
activities. They often have friends over for the weekend and even family vacations. How would
you describe this family’s boundaries?
a. Permeable internal and external boundaries.
b. Rigid internal and external boundaries.
c. Turbulent boundary coordination.
d. Permeable internal but not external boundaries.
5. “Jenn was brought up in a lower middle class household and becomes highly anxious when her
partner buys expensive computer equipment or audio components. This difference is best
understood through the following concept:”
a. Systems theory
b. Symbolic interaction
c. Dialectical tensions
d. Boundary management
6. Dialectical tensions are…
a. Dysfunctional
b. Ongoing
c. Developmental
d. Unhealthy
7. Which of the following is NOT true from a social constructionism perspective?
a. People make sense of the world by developing their own model of how the world works.
b. Conversation serves to maintain reality.
c. Events and objects in the social world are made rather than found.
d. Relationships are created before communication pattterns can be established.
8. While visiting home for Thanksgiving break, Lindsay decides to take the family dog, Parker, for a
good long walk in the woods near her house while her parents are at work. The weather is
colder than she expected, so she borrows her dad’s winter coat for extra warmth, and as she
puts in on, a pack of cigarettes falls out of the pocket. Lindsay is shocked, because her father
quit smoking 20 years ago when hergrandfather died of lung cancer from smoking. Which of the
following terms best describes what Lindsay is experiencing right now?
a. Boundary turbulence
b. Dialectical tension
c. Privacy dilemma
d. Rule coordination
9. Bobby and Josephine are married and they work together. They have decided to maintain
separation at work, though they are extremely close at home. Based on our discussion of
dialectic theory, which management technique are they using?
a. Neutralization
b. Reframing
c. Selection
d. Segmentation
10. Many stepfamilies experience questions about who is a “member” of the family and who is not.
They are experiencing difficulty with ________.
a. Role negotiation
b. Alliances
c. Narrative performance
d. Boundary management
11. Julia’s grandmother often tells stories that explain why she moved to the U.S. after living for 20
years in Italy. What is her grandmother doing?
a. Recounting
b. Accounting
c. Performing
d. Perspective taking
12. ____ occurs when people demonstrate they are paying attention to and understanding other’s
stories.
a. Narration
b. Interactional storytelling
c. Communicated perspective taking
d. Recounting
13. What is the main focus of narrative performance theory?
a. Tensions that occur in families.
b. Stories as a way of “doing family.”
c. Setting rules for storytelling.
d. Understanding how family members modify communication.
14. When Xavier is talking to his 4-year old nephew he uses simple vocabulary and animates his
voice to maintain his nephew’s interest. What type of adjustment is he making?
a. Convergence
b. Divergence
c. Dialect switching
d. Maintenance
Answer Key
Quiz True False
1. According to narrative theory, telling stories is a central component in human life
a. True
b. False
2. Neutralizing dialectical tensions implies letting one person have his or her way.
a. True
b. False
3. Through interacting together regularly, family members build a boundary between insiders and
outsiders.
a. True
b. False
4. Family members act upon the social reality they construct together.
a. True
b. False
5. “Social construction focuses on how meanings are created and negotiated by family members
based upon situational contexts.”
a. True
b. False
6. Divergent communication adapts to be more similar to others.
a. True
b. False
7. Boundary turbulence arises as privacy rules are violated.
a. True
b. False
8. Recounting involves explanations or reasons for people’s behaviors or situations
a. True
b. False
9. Communicated perspective taking is related to family adaptability and cohesion.
a. True
b. False
10. Cyclic alteration is a management strategy that involves choosing one of the dialectical poles at
varying times.
a. True
b. False
11. Overaccommodation or underaccommodation can have unpleasant results
a. True
b. False
Answer Key
Chapter 3:
What does the following statement mean? “In order to form a joint worldview, partners must negotiate a
set of common meanings through interaction and mutual accommodation.” Use some concrete examples
to demonstrate your understanding of the statement.
Recount a time in your life when you’ve experienced or witnessed boundary turbulence or a privacy
dilemma in your family. First, discuss the boundary rule formation before the turbulence occurred. What
do you think let the turbulence to occur? How were boundaries re-coordinated afterwards (if at all)?
Knowing what you now know about communication privacy management, do you think the turbulence
was handled effectively? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.
Can a family be functional without family stories? First, discuss the tenets of Narrative Theory. Second,
using those tenets, explain why family stories are essential to families. Then, describe what Narrative
Theory would say about a family that doesn’t possess or tell family stories (i.e., can they still be
“functional” without stories?).
How do Dialectics Theory and Systems Theory complement and contradict each other? First, identify the
elements of the theories that complement each other, and then those that contradict each other. Be sure to
address how the dialectic management strategies fit into the Systems Theory framework. Then, using a
real or fictional family, describe a specific stressful situation for a family, and how Dialectics and
Systems Theories might explain that situation differently and/or similarly.