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Discussion Questions
Chapter 1: Conceptualizing Relational Communication: Definitions and
Principles
1. In your text, Fitness suggests, “Human beings are fundamentally social animals who depend utterly
upon one another for their survival and well-being. Little wonder, then, that such a large proportion of
people’s thoughts and feelings--their cognitions and emotions--concern their relationships with others.”
How does popular culture (music or television) help you to make sense of your close relationships,
casual relationships, or role relationships?
2. In this chapter, we defined interpersonal communication as the exchange of nonverbal and verbal
messages between two people, regardless of their relationship. What is another perspective or
alternative way to define interpersonal communication?
3. As discussed in the section The Field of Personal Relationships: A Brief History, there is a lot of popular
press material on relationships that does not necessarily correspond with what academic researcher(s)
have found. What are some of the best/worst examples of popular books, talk shows, and magazine
articles on relationships? How do these materials benefit or harm relationships?
4. How do you compare your experience when you communicated with someone whereby meaning,
understanding, and behavior were shared versus when the communication was full of misinterpretation,
unattended behaviors, and miscommunication?
5. Many people argue that advances in technology and social media are radically changing the ways in
which people communicate in interpersonal relationships. To what extent do the principles for
interpersonal communication highlighted in this chapter, coupled with technology, help us to or get in
the way of us communicating effectively with others?
