Griffin
GRIFFIN: CHAPTER 12 RELATIONAL DIALECTICS
Leslie Baxter and Barbara Montgomery
1. Griffin writes that Baxter and Montgomery “study how communication creates and constantly changes close relationships.” Explain.
Baxter saw no law of gravitational pull to predict interpersonal attraction, no co-efficient of friction that would explain human conflict. She found, instead, people struggling to interpret the mixed messages about their relationship that they both spoke and heard. Ideas were the same
2. What did Baxter and Montgomery find when they began to study personal relationships?
Relational Dialectics— highlight the tension, struggle, and general messiness of close personal ties. a dynamic knot of contradictions in person relationships; an unceasingly interplay between contrary or opposing tendencies.
Dialectic:
1. Tension between opposed or contradictory ideas or elements
2. Will not be resolved
3. How does Baxter and Montgomery’s work relate to the study of friendship and family relations?
The 2002 movie Bend it Like Beckham is helpful in illustrating tensions within family, friendship, and romantic ties.
4. Define and describe “contradiction” as it is part of Relational Dialectics. How are intimacy and interdependence related in this framework? How is bonding related to interdependence and independence?
Contradiction is a core concept of relational dialectics. Contradiction refers to “the dynamic interplay between unified oppositions”. A contradiction is formed “whenever two tendencies or forces are interdependent (the dialectical principle of unity) yet mutually negate one another (the dialectical principle of negation).” Bonding occurs in both interdependence with the other and independence from the other. Baxter and Montgormer suggest that couples take advantage of the opportunity it provides: “from a relational dialectics perspective, bonding occurs in both interdependence with the other and independence from the other”. One
Leslie Baxter and Barbara Montgomery
1. Griffin writes that Baxter and Montgomery “study how communication creates and constantly changes close relationships.” Explain.
Baxter saw no law of gravitational pull to predict interpersonal attraction, no co-efficient of friction that would explain human conflict. She found, instead, people struggling to interpret the mixed messages about their relationship that they both spoke and heard. Ideas were the same
2. What did Baxter and Montgomery find when they began to study personal relationships?
Relational Dialectics— highlight the tension, struggle, and general messiness of close personal ties. a dynamic knot of contradictions in person relationships; an unceasingly interplay between contrary or opposing tendencies.
Dialectic:
1. Tension between opposed or contradictory ideas or elements
2. Will not be resolved
3. How does Baxter and Montgomery’s work relate to the study of friendship and family relations?
The 2002 movie Bend it Like Beckham is helpful in illustrating tensions within family, friendship, and romantic ties.
4. Define and describe “contradiction” as it is part of Relational Dialectics. How are intimacy and interdependence related in this framework? How is bonding related to interdependence and independence?
Contradiction is a core concept of relational dialectics. Contradiction refers to “the dynamic interplay between unified oppositions”. A contradiction is formed “whenever two tendencies or forces are interdependent (the dialectical principle of unity) yet mutually negate one another (the dialectical principle of negation).” Bonding occurs in both interdependence with the other and independence from the other. Baxter and Montgormer suggest that couples take advantage of the opportunity it provides: “from a relational dialectics perspective, bonding occurs in both interdependence with the other and independence from the other”. One