Deck 5: Relational Maintenance Within Families

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of a strategic behavior used to maintain a relationship between married partners?

A) Picking kids up after ball practice
B) Carrying out the garbage
C) Chatting about what happened at work or school
D) Apologizing profusely for a fight or argument

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements are true about relational maintenance?

A) Family relationships require less maintenance than friendships because of the involuntary ties inherent within families.
B) All relationships require maintenance, but the type of maintenance needed varies based upon the type of relationship.
C) Relationships only require maintenance when there is persistent conflict within the relationship, or when one or both partners is dissatisfied with the relationship.
D) Relationship maintenance requires one partner changing behaviors and patterns in order to accommodate the other.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The Murphys strongly identify with their Irish heritage, and thus wear green and orange, bake Irish soda bread, and make Irish stew on St. Patrick's Day, just as those in Ireland do. Which type of family ritual are these?

A) Family celebrations
B) Intimacy expressions
C) Patterned interactions
D) Symbolic/Idiosyncratic

Answer 3

A

Question 4

When family members get together at Thanksgiving and other major family celebrations, members usually talk about the recent past and catch each other up on events in their lives. This communicative behavior is called _____.

A) Entertaining
B) Joining
C) Chronicling
D) Narrating

Question 5

According to Stafford and Canary, which of the following is NOT a maintenance strategies that help couples?

A) Assurances
B) Positivity
C) Sharing tasks
D) Reducing social networks

Question 6

According to the research of Myers et al. on sibling relationships, which of the following is FALSE?

A) They are involuntarily linked, but most siblings have a commitment beyond the obligatory ties.
B) They reported sharing tasks most frequently and participating in family events.
C) They reported more openness with siblings than friends.
D) They use more relationship maintenance behaviors when they like their siblings.

Question 7

"My father always makes fun of my mother's cooking in front of the extended family. He's doneit for years even after other people told him it wasn't funny." This is an example of which of the following?

A) Bonding ritual
B) Couple time
C) Negative ritual
D) Relational currency

Question 8

When Jack was a little boy, he and his father used to build model airplanes together. When Jack grew up and went to college, got a job, and created a life of his own, he and his dad stopped building models together. Recently, however, Jack's father had to be placed in an elderly care facility. Jack goes to visit him once a week, and always brings along his son and a model airplane for them to build together. Jack bringing a model airplane to build with his father is an example of:

A) Inter-generational ritual
B) Assurance
C) Shared task
D) Couple time

Question 9

Which one of the following examples illustrates confirming communication?

A) My mother continues to talk on the phone and clip coupons when I'm ready to talk about the art contest.
B) My father still orders for his mother in restaurants even though she has recovered quite well from her stroke.
C) My mother says we should sit on the porch when I come home to visit, so she can listen without distraction to my latest stories.
D) My best friend often interrupts me in the middle of stories I'm telling to explain how she understands how I'm feeling based upon a similar situation in her life.

Question 10

Successful family rituals in a blended family:

A) Are created from scratch within the new family, leaving behind old rituals
B) Incorporate old rituals with new rituals
C) Occur when one side of the family adopts the rituals of the other
D) Cannot occur because old rituals are too powerful

Question 11

When Mark and Amy first moved in together, Amy decided to make Mark his favorite chocolate chip pancakes on his first day back at work as a loving gesture to wish him a good start to the week. Two years later, Amy habitually gets up early every Monday morning to make Mark chocolate chip pancakes. Which of the following relational currencies is Amy displaying?

A) Service
B) Access rights
C) Nonverbal affect displays
D) Gifts

Question 12

Ceremonial rituals:

A) Offer special opportunities for family members to bond with each other
B) Can include weddings, graduations and funerals
C) May be limited for some members of the community
D) All of the above

Question 13

Every Sunday, the Moore family comes together to have dinner at Grandma Moore's house. This is an example of a _____

A) Currency
B) Patterned family interaction
C) Rule
D) Ritual

Question 14

Bob and Cyndi try to include expressions of love, support and commitment in their communication to stress the desire to remain in the relationship. Which maintenance strategy are they using?

A) Positivity
B) Openness
C) Assurances
D) Social networks

Question 15

According to Duck, relational maintenance prevents friends or partners from taking each other for granted in the relationship.

Question 16

Relationships continue to function through a combination of everyday routines and strategic behaviors.

Question 17

The point of the "Wicky-Wacky chocolate cake" example is that couples can create symbolic and idiosyncratic meanings.

Question 18

Simply knowing why a spouse uses a certain relational currency, even if it's not one valued by the partner, increases relational satisfaction.

Question 19

Insistence on maintaining rituals from the previous families can threaten the new stepfamily.

Question 20

Negative rituals are easy to identify.

Question 21

Meanings attached to relational currencies have a direct impact on relationship development.

Question 22

Even though siblings are involuntarily linked, they often feel commitment to the relationship that extend beyond obligatory or biological ties

Question 23

No one relational currency is better or more satisfying than another; rather families experience more rewards when they have shared meanings for their relational currencies.