Instructor: Dr. Marcia D. Dixson

Office hours: TR 2:00 - 4:00

and happily by appt.

Office: NF 230B

Phone: 481-6558 Email: dixson@ipfw.edu

COM 597 The Dark Side of

Relational Communication

Fall, 2013

 

 

drphil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  Link to pdf of syllabus

As your read Chapter 6 Affectionate Communication is Good, Except When it Isn't: On the Dark Side of Expression Affection

1. Which theoretical approach to affection makes more sense to you: the bio evolutionary approach or the sociocultural approach?

2. According to EVT on page 148, " when one receives more affection, or more intense affection, than one expects, EVT proposes that one will perceive the behavior as a positive expectancy violation if the affection is communicated in an appropriate way and in an appropriate context." Do you agree with this? Are there any circumstances under which these constraints could be met and the violation would be seen as negative?

3. Explain the potential threats to positive face and negative face of sending or receiving affection.

4. What might be the reason that participants who engaged in affectionate activity with a friend experienced a buffering effect for cortisol but not those who did so with a romantic partner (p. 153)?

5. What do you believe people can do to minimize the risk of expressing affectionate messages and to minimize the potential problems of receiving affectionate messages?