- Among the differences are that interpersonal relationships are those in which the people base their predictions on psychological (rather than sociological) data, explanatory (rather than descriptive) knowledge, and personally established (rather than socially established) rules.
- Interpersonal relationships have both advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that interpersonal relationships help alleviate loneliness, enable you to secure stimulation, help you to gain self-knowledge and enhance your self-esteem, and enable you to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Some of the disadvantages are that interpersonal relationships put pressure on you to reveal yourself to others; impose significant financial, emotional, and temporal obligations; may lead to increased isolation from former friends; and may present difficulties in dissolving.
Stages in Interpersonal Relationships
What are the stages that a relationship goes through?
- At the contact stage you make perceptual contact and later interact with the person.
- At the involvement stage you test your potential partner, and if this proves satisfactory, you move on to intensifying your relationship.
- At the intimacy stage you may make an interpersonal commitment and later enter the stage of social bonding, where you publicly reveal your relationship status.
- At the deterioration stage the bonds holding you together begin to weaken. Intrapersonal dissatisfaction is experienced and later becomes interpersonal when you discuss it with your partner and perhaps others.
- At the repair stage you first engage in intrapersonal repair, analyzing what went wrong and perhaps what you can do to set things right; later you may engage in interpersonal repair, where you and your partner consider ways to mend your deteriorating relationships.
- At the dissolution stage you separate yourself from your partner and later perhaps separate socially and publicly.
Relationships in a Context of Culture and Technology
In what ways does culture influence interpersonal relationships?
- Culture influences the beliefs you have about relationships, the purposes and values you feel they should serve, the choices involved in developing and in dissolving relationships, the rules that relationships should follow, and the roles that are considered appropriate in relationships.
- Technology has now assumed a major role in all interpersonal relationships, especially their development and maintenance.
No comments:
Post a Comment