Question 1

Jackie finds out that another person in her office received the promotion they were both interviewed for. This could be considered a(n)

Accepted Answer

Face-threatening acts are defined as events that hinder the fulfillment of one or more face needs. In this case, not getting a promotion she interviewed for is a face-threatening act for Jackie.

Question 2

Claudio was rejected from his preferred MBA program, but he later declares that he didn't care about getting an MBA anyway. This is an example of a(n)

Accepted Answer

Claudio's claim that he didn't really want to get an MBA is probably not true, since he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of applying to a program if he wasn't interested. His statement is a type of defense mechanism-a response that minimizes the effects of a face-threatening act.

Question 3

David thinks of himself as an impressive speaker and likes to brag to people about his speaking skills. However, most of David's coworkers find his presentations dull, undermining the image David projects. This is an example of how

Accepted Answer

As psychologist Dan McAdams has suggested, each of us develops a way of presenting ourselves to others that is based on our self-concept but is also influenced by other people. In this sense, image management is collaborative. If others accept the image you portray, they will tend to behave in ways that encourage that image. If others don't accept that image of you, however, they may treat you as less credible or as untrustworthy.

Question 4

Pablo's supervisor invites him to come to dinner with her and a few other managers at his firm, but Pablo has a major report due the next day and needs to work late to finish. Pablo wants to ingratiate himself to his superiors, but he also doesn't want to appear irresponsible by not finishing his work. This is an example of how

Accepted Answer

Image management is often complicated and may generate competing goals for our interactions with others. In this case, Pablo wants his bosses to get to know him so that he can improve his chances of advancing in the company, but he also knows that he needs to finish his work. Managing these types of competing image needs can be complex.

Question 5

Sociologist Erving Goffman uses the term ________ to describe behaviors we use to project our desired public image.

Accepted Answer

Sociologist Erving Goffman coined the term facework to describe the behaviors we use to project our desired public image to others.

Question 6

Perception happens in three defined, strictly ordered stages.

Accepted Answer

Although perception occurs in stages-selecting, organizing, and interpreting information-the stages all overlap and can be circular. Thus, for example, the way we interpret a communication behavior depends on what we notice about it, but what we notice can also depend on the way we interpret it.

Question 7

Role constructs emphasize people's social or professional standing.

Accepted Answer

Role constructs emphasize people's social or professional position, so we notice that a person is a sales rep, an accountant, a stepmother, and so on.

Question 8

Personal experience with a person is one of the factors we use to understand what their behavior is communicating.

Accepted Answer

There are three factors you generally pay attention to in order to interpret someone's behavior: your personal experience with them, your knowledge of them, and the closeness of your relationship with them.

Question 9

Your first impression of someone typically fades as you get to know him or her.

Accepted Answer

According to a principle called the primacy effect, first impressions are critical because they set the tone for all future interactions. Our first impressions of someone's communication behaviors seem to stick in our mind more than our second, third, or fourth impressions do.

Question 10

Your client misses a meeting, and you attribute his absence to a severe storm that caused his flight to be canceled. This is an example of a controllable attribution.

Accepted Answer

Attributions vary in controllability. An uncontrollable attribution identifies a cause beyond the person's control, such as an unexpected change in weather that interferes with travel arrangements.

Question 11

People in collectivistic cultures tend to engage in direct, overt forms of conflict communication.

Accepted Answer

People from individualistic cultures frequently engage in more direct, overt forms of conflict communication than do people from collectivistic cultures.

Question 12

Stereotypes are always inaccurate.

Accepted Answer

Although perceptions based on stereotypes are often inaccurate, they aren't necessarily so.

Question 13

Most people do not make self-serving bias or fundamental attribution errors when interpreting other people's behavior.

Accepted Answer

Although most of us probably try to generate accurate attributions for other people's behaviors, we are still vulnerable to making attribution mistakes. Two of the most common attribution errors are the self-serving bias and the fundamental attribution error.

Question 14

A car cuts you off on the freeway. You think, "I guess the driver must really be late for something important."
Your thinking is an example of a fundamental attribution error.

Accepted Answer

We make fundamental attribution errors when we attribute other people's behaviors to internal rather than external causes. In this case, you are attributing the other driver's behavior to an external cause: the driver is running late.

Question 15

Enid loves her wife Laura very much. Last night, when Laura left a pile of unwashed dishes in the sink for Enid to deal with, Enid thought, "She must have been really tired from a long day at work."
This is an example of a self-serving bias.

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias can be extended outside the self to include people with whom we share a close relationship. In a satisfying relationship, for instance, people tend to attribute their partner's positive behaviors to internal causes ("She remembered my birthday because she's thoughtful") and negative behaviors to external causes ("He forgot my birthday because he's been very preoccupied at work").

Question 16

We each have a single, unified self-concept.

Accepted Answer

Self-concept is multifaceted. We define ourselves in many different ways.

Question 17

It is easy for people to assess themselves objectively.

Accepted Answer

It is often difficult for people to judge themselves accurately or objectively. Sometimes our self-assessments are unreasonably positive or unreasonably negative.

Question 18

We can have different Johari windows with different people.

Accepted Answer

If you think about people who are important to you professionally or personally, you can construct a different Johari window that reflects your self-concept with each of those people.

Question 19

Karim blames himself for not getting a promotion at work. He is starting to believe his coworker's remark that he is "not cut out for management."
This behavior hints that Karim has low self-esteem.

Accepted Answer

People with low self-esteem tend to magnify the importance of their failures and are more likely to believe that negative feedback accurately reflects their worth as individuals.

Question 20

There are some benefits to being a low self-monitor.

Accepted Answer

Being a low self-monitor has its own advantages. Low self-monitors spend less time and energy thinking about their appearance and behavior, so they are probably more relaxed than high self-monitors in many situations.

Quiz 5: Perspective Taking