In Chapter 8 of O’Hair et al. (Real communication: An ed. introduction (4th ed.) You read about how relationships form and fall apart, and the role that communication plays in the creation, sustainment, and dissolution of relationships. This discussion will give you the opportunity to consider the role of relational dynamics by using dialectical tensions and interpersonal relationship theories to analyze relationships. For this activity, you will need to consider two relationships. One must be a real relationship that you have experienced, and the other will be a fictitious relationship from popular cultures, such as a movie, television program, comic book, etc., that depicts the stages of a relationship.

After reviewing Chapter 8, O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2018). Real communication: An ed.). introduction (4th ed.) New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin's, and Deborah Tannen’s He Said, She Said video, respond to the following questions: Answer all questions from the text and use vocabulary from notes in attached document Identify a long-standing relationship you have had with a close friend or family member. Evaluate how dialectical tensions have shifted over the course of your relationship. Which tensions were most prominent early on? Which are most prominent now? Why do you think that a change occurred, or did not occur? What can you do to mitigate these tensions? Identify a relationship from popular culture and evaluate the stages of the relationship as they were depicted in your chosen piece of popular culture. Explain how the relationship does or does not conform to the stages of relationships given in Chapter 7. Did the relationship follow a linear pattern, or did it bounce between levels of intimacy? What communication behaviors did the people in the relationship use? How did these affect the development of the relationship? Do you feel that the depiction of relationship development was accurate and realistic? How might their communication have been improved?