Instructor Resource
Dainton, Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Case Notes
Chapter 5: Interpersonal Communication
Answer to Case Study 5: Bad Move
Question 1. What politeness strategies did Jason use with Seth? What politeness strategies did
Seth use with Jason? Use politeness theory to explain why or why not these were appropriate.
SAMPLE STUDENT ANSWER: Jason used the corrective facework strategies of
humor (“It’ll take more than two beers, and I’m not laying anything on you, but sure,
sounds like fun.”). He used the suprastrategy of bald-on-record when he told Seth
“Gimme a call immediately!” and “One month…but that is ONLY if we spend the next
Question 2. Using social exchange theory, consider the friendship between Seth and Jason.
Identify the rewards and costs for each person. Using the concept of comparison level and
comparison level of alternatives, why did Jason end this friendship?
Question 3. Identify the internal and external dialectics that appear in the story. What strategies
were used to manage these tensions? What strategies might have been better?
Question 4. What private information and privacy rules exist in this story? How was boundary
coordination used by the various characters? Did anyone violate boundary ownership? If so,
who, and how did they do so?
Question 5: What ethical issues emerge from this case? How might insight from any of the
theories help navigate these challenges?
Question 6: Do any of the interpersonal communication theories provide a “better” explanation
than the others? Why do you believe this to be the case? What additional factors might have
been included to make a different theory or combination of theories better at explaining the
situation?