Identify a relationship (friendship or romantic), current or past that you believe was moving
close to and/or reached the intimacy and trust (relational maintenance) stages. You will write a
paper that reflects on and analyzes this relationship with regards to the following three areas:
A. Relational Development: Using Knapps model of the stages of relational development
(Note: rely on the handout and model discussed in class overview), explain each of the various
stages of coming together in this relationship and identify/describe the communicative
behaviors you and the other person engaged in throughout each of the stages.
B. Sequence and Satisfaction: Briefly address to what extent you experienced all of the stages
as identified by Knapp, whether you skipped any stages, or whether you experienced the stages
in a different sequence. What do you believe the impact of your movement through the stages
had on your relational development and satisfaction with the relationship?
C. Relational Maintenance: Identify how you managed one of the dialectical tensions in your
relationship (predictability-novelty, autonomy-connection, or openness-closedness). If you felt
you didnt manage these tensions well in the relationship, explain and describe why not?
Identify and describe one strategy (per the list of maintenance behaviors addressed in the class
overview) that you use(d) to maintain your relationshipbe sure to provide a concrete
illustration of this behavior in your relationship.
This paper should be approximately 2-4 pages (make sure you are detailed enough to address the
above three areas concretely and specifically). The assignment should be typed, double-spaced,
and use 1-inch margins.
Please use a friendship and not a romantic relationship!
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