• The assignments in this class are designed to allow you to do 5 things: (1) Analyze the role of interpersonal interactions in diverse contexts, (2) practice interpersonal communication skills, (3) explain how you see the role of interpersonal communication concepts and processes in real relationships, (4) identify barriers to successful communication, and (5) reflect on your own interpersonal communication strengths and weaknesses by applying our course material to personal experiences.

Many questions will ask about your experience, and your self. **Only share what you are comfortable sharing, I don't have mindreading powers so I won't know if this is an experience you really had or if you're using an example from a TV show/book/friends experience.*

Your assignment should be typed, proofread, and answer all parts of the prompt. Number, bullet point, or otherwise separate your responses to each question to match the prompts.

Your response will be graded based upon how well it meets the criteria, as well as the depth of your understanding of the course material as demonstrated by your use of it in the assignment. In order to show that you've mastered the course material you will define key terms/concepts/theories from our material and apply them to an example of your choosing. Here is an example of what this should look like:

• A self-fulfilling prophecy is....(provide definition from course reading).
• I experienced a self-fulfilling prophecy when....(provide example).
• I know it was a self-fulfilling prophecy because.... (Explain how your experience demonstrates the definition, assume I know nothing about the course, this last step is the most important for demonstrating that you know what these things look like in real life and that it wasn't a lucky guess).

EXERCISE: Perception and Self

Practice going through a perception check. Watch the scene from "Arranged" linked here.

Step 1: Describe the behavior or situation without evaluating or judging it. Tell us what happened as neutrally as possible. For example a neutral description might sound like "Rochel raised her eyebrows, inhaled, then said "I don't agree." A description that was not neutral might say "Rochel was frustrated and responded sarcastically saying "I don't agree." The second statement interprets the meaning of Rochel's behavior rather than describing the behavior itself.

Step 2: Think of 2 possible interpretations of the behavior, being aware of attributions and other influences on the perception process.

Step 3: Verify what happened and ask for clarification from the other person's perspective. Be aware of punctuation since the other person likely experienced the event differently than you.

Write a perception check from the perspective of Nasira. Describe the behavior, offer 2 interpretations and then ask a follow-up question.

2. Which barrier(s) to self-perception do you think present the most challenge to you and why? What can you do to start to overcome these barriers? These might include: Media, Family, Gender socialization, Self-fulfilling prophecies, social comparison theory, halo effect, horn effect, etc (Define the barrier and show how it applied to your experience)
4. Take one of the socializing forces discussed in the book (family, culture, or media) and identify at least one positive and one negative influence that it/they have had on your self-concept and/or self-esteem.(Use terms/concepts from class in your response and define the terms/concepts)
6. Discuss some ways that you might strategically engage in self-presentation to influence the impressions of others. (Use terms/concepts from class material in your response and define the terms)

https://youtu.be/24IMp6RQ0Rc?si=ISIgOwhVauBgiTpu