Week 2: Interpersonal Foundations & Relational Goals
Balancing Relational Goals
Discussion Prompt
We often pursue multiple relational goals simultaneously, and sometimes these goals can conflict. For example, you might want to maintain a friendship (relationship goal) while also needing to give honest feedback that might hurt the person's feelings (instrumental goal). Describe a situation where you experienced competing relational goals. How did you navigate the tension? What did you prioritize, and why? Looking back, would you handle it differently?
Response Guidelines
- Share a specific example from your own experience
- Identify which relational goals were in conflict
- Explain your communication choices and their outcomes
- Connect your experience to concepts from the reading
- Offer thoughtful feedback when responding to classmates
Minimum 200 words