Need help finishing a paper about communication in relationships

User Generated

Wrerila

Business Finance

Description

I have uploaded my paper to this post, I already have 5 pages out of 8 done but I am having serious writers block. I need help getting to 8 pages or more, below are the instructions for the paper.

Imagine that a newly engaged couple hears that you are taking a course in interpersonal communication, and wants advice for their relationship. What advice would you give them regarding how to effectively use interpersonal communication in their relationship? Write the paper in the form of a letter.
Use the below list of five course learning outcomes to help guide your letter. For each of the five learning outcomes, create a separate section with a heading that reflects the learning outcome that you are using. 

  1. Identify the barriers to effective interpersonal interactions. 
  2. Describe the process by which self-concept is developed and maintained. 
  3. Define emotional intelligence and its role in effective interpersonal relationships. 
  4. Evaluate appropriate levels of self-disclosure in relationships. 
  5. Describe strategies for managing interpersonal conflicts. 
Write an eight to ten page paper (excluding title and reference pages) in the form of a letter. In this paper, address the five concepts above. Your advice cannot be based on your own opinions; you must back up your advice with research. This is a formal paper and should utilize proper grammar, complete sentences, appropriate paragraphs, and correct citations/references in proper APA (6th edition) style. However, you will write this paper in the format of a letter to the newly-engaged couple, and may address the couple throughout the paper. For example: “Dear Sara and Tim, my advice to you for a successful relationship is…” Along with explaining concepts and including research, you may also use your personal experiences as examples of the research and advice that you are offering. 

The paper must be formatted according to APA style. Cite your resources in text and on the reference page. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar.

Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought. Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis. Must use at least five scholarly sources, including a minimum of two from the Ashford University Library. Must document all sources (both within the text and on a separate reference page) in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. 

Miller_Wk5_A1.doc

Unformatted Attachment Preview

Running head: LETTER OF ADVICE 1 Letter of Advice Jeremy M. Miller Ashford University: COM 200 Doctor Anne Marie Fowler April 30, 2015 LETTER OF ADVICE 2 Letter of Advice April 30, 2015 Dear Angie and Gerald, I am writing this letter to you because you asked for my advice about how to have a healthy and happy relationship. “Interpersonal communication is a social process, and we usually communicate for one of three primary purposes, to meet personal needs; to learn about ourselves, other people, and the world; and to build and maintain relationships with others” (Bevan & Sole, 2014). During this letter I will help you to understand the importance of interpersonal communication so that the two of you can build a happy and healthy relationship together. Communication or lack of communication is one of the major barriers to effective interpersonal interactions. "We just don't communicate!" is a common refrain in relationships, too common in fact, because after mental health, effective communication is the second most important ingredient in a healthy relationship” Johnson, 2011). Without effectively communicating with your significant other many other conflicts and misunderstandings will occur that will lead to greater stress in both of your lives and ultimately lead to unhappiness in the relationship and with each other. Every relationship has conflict to one degree or another, and when you do not have effective communication, that conflict will go unresolved, which will cause the conflict to escalate and cause other problems within the relationship. Equally important to communication is your self-concept. Self-concept can be defined as one's description or portrayal of him- or herself as a person, "based on an organized collection of beliefs and feelings about oneself" (Myers, 1993, p. 188). Your LETTER OF ADVICE 3 self-concept is how you see yourself as an individual, and if you are not happy with the person that you view yourself as then you will find ways to sabotage your relationships whether intentional or not. One’s self esteem has a big impact on one’s self-concept. “Low self-esteem could also show up as lack of confidence, or by not taking responsibility for your own actions. Do I have to mention the impact on the interpersonal communication?! Who would like to spend more time or collaborate with someone who doesn’t take responsibility for his actions? or who does not trust himself, and is waiting for help all the time? ” (Casineanu, 2012). So you can see that it is in your best interest and your significant other’s best interest to be the best you that you can possibly be not only for your happiness but also for the health and happiness of your relationship. Another aspect to an effective interpersonal relationship is emotional intelligence. “Qualities such as understanding others' emotions, having the ability to help others regulate their moods positively, and being able to regulate and harness one's own emotions when interacting with others may help individuals build satisfying long-term relationships. Therefore, one would expect that persons with higher emotional intelligence would have better marital relationships and greater marital satisfaction than would those with lower emotional intelligence” (Schutte, Malouff, Bobik, Coston, Greeson, Jedlicka, Wendorf, 2001). Emotional intelligence is not only the ability to understand and express your emotions, but it is the ability to interpret the emotions of others and respond accordingly to them. You can see why emotional intelligence is an important aspect to a healthy relationship, knowing, understanding and acting on the needs of your significant other as well as expressing your own needs will lead you both to a more intimate relationship. LETTER OF ADVICE 4 How much self-disclosure is healthy for your relationship? “Self-disclosure is linked to individual well-being. Specifically, those who actively avoid disclosing to others increase their vulnerability to stress, which then increases the likelihood of compromising personal physical health” (Jourard, 1971). What this means in regards to your relationship is If you wait too long or do not share your inner thoughts and feeling with your significant other, they feel that you do not trust them or you are hiding something from them which will cause stress in your relationship and your daily lives. However if you share too much of yourselves too soon, the other person may be unable to accept what you offer of yourself. What this means is that you must figure out what the appropriate level of self-disclosure is comfortable for you and what you feel is comfortable for your significant other. With that, “Self-disclosure is sharing with someone information which helps him or her understand you. Self-disclosure is most revealing when the sharing is in the present and least revealing when the sharing is about the past. Self-disclosure involves communication that reveals more private, sensitive, and confidential information.” (Williams, n.d.). Self-disclosure is about transparency, it is about sharing all of yourself with your spouse in hopes of creating a more intimate bond and reducing uncertainty in the relationship. Along with self-disclosure, reliving the past can be damaging to your relationship as well. “The negative emotions from previous experiences, if not released, continue to haunt us and get expressed when we least expect them to. They are triggered by similar situations that show up in our life, without consciously recognizing them. Did it occur to you to get upset or raise the tone of your voice for something that was not really a big deal? It could be one of those situations that triggered past emotions not released. As long LETTER OF ADVICE 5 as you don’t identify and release them, they could affect your interpersonal communication since others won’t really know from where your overreaction is coming from” (Casineanu, 2010). You have to let go of past emotions that were from other relationships and give your new partner the benefit of the doubt, do not assume that they will make the same mistakes and prejudge them for something they have not done. By living in the past you cannot have a healthy relationship in the present, you have to work through your past emotions and live in the now with your current partner. Now I will discuss what I feel is the most important strategy for managing interpersonal conflicts. “Interpersonal conflict can end marriages, separate friends, shatter families, and increase job dissatisfaction and turnover. It can also be painful and damaging to other people who are not directly involved in the conflict. If the conflict occurs in a family, for example, it can negatively affect children and other family members and can impact relationships with one another as well as with the parties who are involved in the conflict” (Bevan & Sole, 2014). The strategy that my wife and I currently use in our marriage to manage interpersonal conflicts is what my wife and I call Win-Win, this approach resolves the conflicts by accepting both point of views and attaching equal importance to both by putting the well-being of the relationship above our individuals ego. Co-operation and recognition of each other’s feelings are crucial to this strategy. Both Parties must agree and adhere to the rules of negotiation and agree to solve the conflict constructively. However there are many other strategies for resolving conflict and what works for one couple may not work for another, also the type of conflict could call for a different strategy than one you normally use. “There is a menu of strategies we can choose from when in conflict situations: Forcing - using formal authority or other LETTER OF ADVICE 6 power that you possess to satisfy your concerns without regard to the concerns of the party that you are in conflict with. Accommodating - allowing the other party to satisfy their concerns while neglecting your own. Avoiding - not paying attention to the conflict and not taking any action to resolve it. Compromising - attempting to resolve a conflict by identifying a solution that is partially satisfactory to both parties, but completely satisfactory to neither. Collaborating - cooperating with the other party to understand their concerns and expressing your own concerns in an effort to find a mutually and completely satisfactory solution” (Williams, n.d). So you can see that there are many strategies that can be used to resolve conflict in your interpersonal relationships, however only a few of the strategies are beneficial to both parties. Commitment plays a huge role in managing interpersonal relationships. “Lack of commitment comes usually from not knowing what you want, or from not having the courage to take the right actions and no one likes it. How to communicate effectively with someone who is not committed, who doesn’t pay attention or simply ignores you?!” (Casineanu, 2012). A lack of commitment is easy to spot and it causes much unneeded stress in the relationship because one partner feels that they are the only ones trying to make the relationship work. If both of you are not fully committed to your relationship then it is doomed to fail because it takes both parties full commitment to each other and the relationship to make it work. The things I talked about are just a few things that if applied correctly will help you to have a more intimate relationship and marriage. You can also see how all of these things correlate back to communication. Communication is essential to having effective interpersonal relationships, and building a happy and healthy relationship. LETTER OF ADVICE 7 Sincerely, Jeremy Miller LETTER OF ADVICE 8 References Bevan, J. L., & Sole, K. (2014). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Casineanu, G. (2012). Three Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication. Retrieved from: https://thoughtsdesigner.wordpress.com/ Johnson, T. (2011). Healthy relationships lead to better lives. The Nation's Health, 41(2), 20. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database. Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Bobik, C., Coston, T. D., Greeson, C., Jedlicka, C., & Wendorf, G. (2001). Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Relations. Journal Of Social Psychology, 141(4), 523-536. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database. Walker, G. (n.d.). Interpersonal Relationship Communication Theories. Retrieved from: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm321/gwalker/relationships.htm Williams, S. (n.d). Conflict management: Style and Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/conflict.htm Running head: LETTER OF ADVICE 1 Letter of Advice Jeremy M. Miller Ashford University: COM 200 Doctor Anne Marie Fowler April 30, 2015 LETTER OF ADVICE 2 Letter of Advice April 30, 2015 Dear Angie and Gerald, I am writing this letter to you because you asked for my advice about how to have a healthy and happy relationship. “Interpersonal communication is a social process, and we usually communicate for one of three primary purposes, to meet personal needs; to learn about ourselves, other people, and the world; and to build and maintain relationships with others” (Bevan & Sole, 2014). During this letter I will help you to understand the importance of interpersonal communication so that the two of you can build a happy and healthy relationship together. Communication or lack of communication is one of the major barriers to effective interpersonal interactions. "We just don't communicate!" is a common refrain in relationships, too common in fact, because after mental health, effective communication is the second most important ingredient in a healthy relationship” Johnson, 2011). Without effectively communicating with your significant other many other conflicts and misunderstandings will occur that will lead to greater stress in both of your lives and ultimately lead to unhappiness in the relationship and with each other. Every relationship has conflict to one degree or another, and when you do not have effective communication, that conflict will go unresolved, which will cause the conflict to escalate and cause other problems within the relationship. Equally important to communication is your self-concept. Self-concept can be defined as one's description or portrayal of him- or herself as a person, "based on an organized collection of beliefs and feelings about oneself" (Myers, 1993, p. 188). Your LETTER OF ADVICE 3 self-concept is how you see yourself as an individual, and if you are not happy with the person that you view yourself as then you will find ways to sabotage your relationships whether intentional or not. One’s self esteem has a big impact on one’s self-concept. “Low self-esteem could also show up as lack of confidence, or by not taking responsibility for your own actions. Do I have to mention the impact on the interpersonal communication?! Who would like to spend more time or collaborate with someone who doesn’t take responsibility for his actions? or who does not trust himself, and is waiting for help all the time? ” (Casineanu, 2012). So you can see that it is in your best interest and your significant other’s best interest to be the best you that you can possibly be not only for your happiness but also for the health and happiness of your relationship. Another aspect to an effective interpersonal relationship is emotional intelligence. “Qualities such as understanding others' emotions, having the ability to help others regulate their moods positively, and being able to regulate and harness one's own emotions when interacting with others may help individuals build satisfying long-term relationships. Therefore, one would expect that persons with higher emotional intelligence would have better marital relationships and greater marital satisfaction than would those with lower emotional intelligence” (Schutte, Malouff, Bobik, Coston, Greeson, Jedlicka, Wendorf, 2001). Emotional intelligence is not only the ability to understand and express your emotions, but it is the ability to interpret the emotions of others and respond accordingly to them. You can see why emotional intelligence is an important aspect to a healthy relationship, knowing, understanding and acting on the needs of your significant other as well as expressing your own needs will lead you both to a more intimate relationship. LETTER OF ADVICE 4 How much self-disclosure is healthy for your relationship? “Self-disclosure is linked to individual well-being. Specifically, those who actively avoid disclosing to others increase their vulnerability to stress, which then increases the likelihood of compromising personal physical health” (Jourard, 1971). What this means in regards to your relationship is If you wait too long or do not share your inner thoughts and feeling with your significant other, they feel that you do not trust them or you are hiding something from them which will cause stress in your relationship and your daily lives. However if you share too much of yourselves too soon, the other person may be unable to accept what you offer of yourself. What this means is that you must figure out what the appropriate level of self-disclosure is comfortable for you and what you feel is comfortable for your significant other. With that, “Self-disclosure is sharing with someone information which helps him or her understand you. Self-disclosure is most revealing when the sharing is in the present and least revealing when the sharing is about the past. Self-disclosure involves communication that reveals more private, sensitive, and confidential information.” (Williams, n.d.). Self-disclosure is about transparency, it is about sharing all of yourself with your spouse in hopes of creating a more intimate bond and reducing uncertainty in the relationship. Along with self-disclosure, reliving the past can be damaging to your relationship as well. “The negative emotions from previous experiences, if not released, continue to haunt us and get expressed when we least expect them to. They are triggered by similar situations that show up in our life, without consciously recognizing them. Did it occur to you to get upset or raise the tone of your voice for something that was not really a big deal? It could be one of those situations that triggered past emotions not released. As long LETTER OF ADVICE 5 as you don’t identify and release them, they could affect your interpersonal communication since others won’t really know from where your overreaction is coming from” (Casineanu, 2010). You have to let go of past emotions that were from other relationships and give your new partner the benefit of the doubt, do not assume that they will make the same mistakes and prejudge them for something they have not done. By living in the past you cannot have a healthy relationship in the present, you have to work through your past emotions and live in the now with your current partner. Now I will discuss what I feel is the most important strategy for managing interpersonal conflicts. “Interpersonal conflict can end marriages, separate friends, shatter families, and increase job dissatisfaction and turnover. It can also be painful and damaging to other people who are not directly involved in the conflict. If the conflict occurs in a family, for example, it can negatively affect children and other family members and can impact relationships with one another as well as with the parties who are involved in the conflict” (Bevan & Sole, 2014). The strategy that my wife and I currently use in our marriage to manage interpersonal conflicts is what my wife and I call Win-Win, this approach resolves the conflicts by accepting both point of views and attaching equal importance to both by putting the well-being of the relationship above our individuals ego. Co-operation and recognition of each other’s feelings are crucial to this strategy. Both Parties must agree and adhere to the rules of negotiation and agree to solve the conflict constructively. However there are many other strategies for resolving conflict and what works for one couple may not work for another, also the type of conflict could call for a different strategy than one you normally use. “There is a menu of strategies we can choose from when in conflict situations: Forcing - using formal authority or other LETTER OF ADVICE 6 power that you possess to satisfy your concerns without regard to the concerns of the party that you are in conflict with. Accommodating - allowing the other party to satisfy their concerns while neglecting your own. Avoiding - not paying attention to the conflict and not taking any action to resolve it. Compromising - attempting to resolve a conflict by identifying a solution that is partially satisfactory to both parties, but completely satisfactory to neither. Collaborating - cooperating with the other party to understand their concerns and expressing your own concerns in an effort to find a mutually and completely satisfactory solution” (Williams, n.d). So you can see that there are many strategies that can be used to resolve conflict in your interpersonal relationships, however only a few of the strategies are beneficial to both parties. Commitment plays a huge role in managing interpersonal relationships. “Lack of commitment comes usually from not knowing what you want, or from not having the courage to take the right actions and no one likes it. How to communicate effectively with someone who is not committed, who doesn’t pay attention or simply ignores you?!” (Casineanu, 2012). A lack of commitment is easy to spot and it causes much unneeded stress in the relationship because one partner feels that they are the only ones trying to make the relationship work. If both of you are not fully committed to your relationship then it is doomed to fail because it takes both parties full commitment to each other and the relationship to make it work. The things I talked about are just a few things that if applied correctly will help you to have a more intimate relationship and marriage. You can also see how all of these things correlate back to communication. Communication is essential to having effective interpersonal relationships, and building a happy and healthy relationship. LETTER OF ADVICE 7 Sincerely, Jeremy Miller LETTER OF ADVICE 8 References Bevan, J. L., & Sole, K. (2014). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Casineanu, G. (2012). Three Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication. Retrieved from: https://thoughtsdesigner.wordpress.com/ Johnson, T. (2011). Healthy relationships lead to better lives. The Nation's Health, 41(2), 20. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database. Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Bobik, C., Coston, T. D., Greeson, C., Jedlicka, C., & Wendorf, G. (2001). Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Relations. Journal Of Social Psychology, 141(4), 523-536. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database. Walker, G. (n.d.). Interpersonal Relationship Communication Theories. Retrieved from: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm321/gwalker/relationships.htm Williams, S. (n.d). Conflict management: Style and Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/conflict.htm
Purchase answer to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Explanation & Answer


Anonymous
I was struggling with this subject, and this helped me a ton!

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4

Related Tags