Question

Think about the relationships in your life. Identify one you believe to be in one of the first five stages of Knapp's model. Take a moment to describe this relationship.

1- What kind of relationship is it? (personal-social, professional-functional)
2- Which stage of relational development does this relationship mirror, based on Knapp's Model?
3- What are five things you can do to keep this relationship progressing?

Answer 1

The answer is:

1. The relationship is personal-social.
2. The stage of relational development is Experimentation, in which people interact by disclosing information about themselves. In this stage, individuals make small talk to identify common interests. Furthermore, exchanges are kept friendly and informal.
3. To hold the relationship progressing, I can extend the small talk to determine whether the other person is predisposed to intensify the relation. I could also try to have more profound dialogues in order to move to the next phase, Intensifying. Besides, I could cause to talk to the person more frequently and give tokens or gifts as a manifestation of greater affection. Finally, to move more straightforward to the next phase, I could also invite the person to engage in an activity together.