COMM 3800 FAMILY COMM FINAL EXAM 2026/2027 ||
FAMILY COMMUNICATION STUDY REVIEW | VERIFIED
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS | HIGH-IMPACT EXAM PREP |
TOP-SCORE GUIDE | GRADED A+
Individual factors: personal mate preference - CORRECT ANSWER -
Chastity (not as popular today), physical attractiveness (increasingly important),
financial resources (increasingly important), cooking/housekeeping (not as
important today), and mutual attraction/love (very important today compared to
before the 1960s)
Couple factors: partner compatibility
Assortive matching for sociocultural variables - CORRECT ANSWER -
Couples tend to match when it comes to age, race, education, socioeconomic
class, and physical attractiveness
Initiating: relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"Hi how ya doin'?"
"Fine. You?"-we've recently met or I'd like to meet this person; deciding
whether he/she is attractive and whether to initiate communication
Experimenting: relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"Oh, so you like
to ski...so do I." "You do? Great. Where do you go?"- we are beginning the
process of experimenting--trying to discover the unknown; small talk is key,
relationship is relaxed and pleasant with many questions
Intensifying- relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"I...think I love
you." "I love you too"- we have a good amount of personal closure and we have
begun to get a glimpse of some previously withheld secrets; we have begun to
speak more informally; we become close with caution waiting for confirmation
before proceeding
Bonding: relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"I feel so much a part
of you" "Yeah, we are like one person" "I want to be with you always" "Let's
get married"- our two individual personalities are almost fused or blended;
verbal and nonverbal communication shows that we are alike; in a public ritual
we have announced to the world that a commitment has been formally
contracted; communication is at its highest level
,Integrating stage - CORRECT ANSWER -As partners choose to intensify
their relationship, they become increasingly interdependent which translates to
more opportunities for conflict
Sleeper effect - CORRECT ANSWER -The effect of conflict during
courtship sometimes does not show up until later; even serious conflict during
courtship does not always affect a couple's satisfaction with their relationship at
the time, but it may predict dissatisfaction with the partner and the marriage up
to five years later
Online dating - CORRECT ANSWER -Around 25% of singles in the US
have used an online dating service; online dating is appealing to people who
feel their marriage/dating markets are diminished because of relocation,
retirement, and divorce or parenting demands
What does research on communication during online dating focus on? -
CORRECT ANSWER -How impressions and identities are managed online,
how specific online communication behaviors (self-disclosure, emotionality,
and relationship maintenance) occur and the effect they have, and how couples
vary in their dependence and use of online communication
How do people communicate online and what effect does this communication
have? - CORRECT ANSWER -Online dating often occurs at an accelerated
pace, with a flurry of email messages, compared to traditional dating where
partners begin with once a week dates; when a relationship exists exclusively
online, daters can put the brakes on a relationship more easily and abruptly by
blocking emails, not responding, and cashing in on any anonymity they have
maintained
Different online dating realtionships - CORRECT ANSWER -Virtuals- first
met online and still meet online
Pinocchios- first met online and now meet offline
, Real Worlders- first met offline and still meet offline
Cyber Emigrants- first met offline but now meet online
Winch's Complementary Needs Model - CORRECT ANSWER -
Homogamy of social characteristics is a strong influence on marital choice, but
only for preliminary screening to determine a field of eligible spouses; past the
preliminary screening, partners seek out people who are different so as to fulfill
complementary needs, yet people are not always aware of their needs and do not
always select mates based on those needs and people's ideal partners are often
more like their ideal selves rather than someone who is different
Murstein's Stimulus-Value-Role Model - CORRECT ANSWER -An
exchange theory suggesting that in a free choice situation, attraction and
interaction depend on the exchange of assets (behaviors and qualities that
reward) and liabilities (behaviors and qualities that are costly to others) that
each partner rings to the relationship; stimulus stage (first impressions based on
physical appearance, status, poise, etc.), value comparison stage (partners focus
on attitudes, beliefs, needs, desires), and role stage (whether the partner's roles
fits with respect to the other partner's roles); Murstein suggests that completing
each stage prepares a couple for marriage; however people tend to not like stage
models such as this one so interpersonal process models were created
Interpersonal Stage Models - CORRECT ANSWER -Courtship is affected
bu multiple variables and there are multiple paths to marriage- relationships do
not necessarily change in linear stages; consists of four courtship patterns:
accelerated types (partners moved gradually and rapidly in their certainty
toward marriage), accelerated-arrested types (partners moved rapidly toward
marriage early on, but lost momentum later), intermediate types (partners
progressed steadily toward marriage, but at a more moderate pace), and
prolonged types (partners had unusually long and sometimes rocky courtships);
relationship-driven commitments reflect turning points based on behavioral
interdependence and positive and negative attributions about the relationship
while event-driven commitments are marked by more frequent and dramatic
downturns, followed by upturns, and then downturns and so on- a more rocky
path
FAMILY COMMUNICATION STUDY REVIEW | VERIFIED
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS | HIGH-IMPACT EXAM PREP |
TOP-SCORE GUIDE | GRADED A+
Individual factors: personal mate preference - CORRECT ANSWER -
Chastity (not as popular today), physical attractiveness (increasingly important),
financial resources (increasingly important), cooking/housekeeping (not as
important today), and mutual attraction/love (very important today compared to
before the 1960s)
Couple factors: partner compatibility
Assortive matching for sociocultural variables - CORRECT ANSWER -
Couples tend to match when it comes to age, race, education, socioeconomic
class, and physical attractiveness
Initiating: relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"Hi how ya doin'?"
"Fine. You?"-we've recently met or I'd like to meet this person; deciding
whether he/she is attractive and whether to initiate communication
Experimenting: relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"Oh, so you like
to ski...so do I." "You do? Great. Where do you go?"- we are beginning the
process of experimenting--trying to discover the unknown; small talk is key,
relationship is relaxed and pleasant with many questions
Intensifying- relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"I...think I love
you." "I love you too"- we have a good amount of personal closure and we have
begun to get a glimpse of some previously withheld secrets; we have begun to
speak more informally; we become close with caution waiting for confirmation
before proceeding
Bonding: relationship stage - CORRECT ANSWER -"I feel so much a part
of you" "Yeah, we are like one person" "I want to be with you always" "Let's
get married"- our two individual personalities are almost fused or blended;
verbal and nonverbal communication shows that we are alike; in a public ritual
we have announced to the world that a commitment has been formally
contracted; communication is at its highest level
,Integrating stage - CORRECT ANSWER -As partners choose to intensify
their relationship, they become increasingly interdependent which translates to
more opportunities for conflict
Sleeper effect - CORRECT ANSWER -The effect of conflict during
courtship sometimes does not show up until later; even serious conflict during
courtship does not always affect a couple's satisfaction with their relationship at
the time, but it may predict dissatisfaction with the partner and the marriage up
to five years later
Online dating - CORRECT ANSWER -Around 25% of singles in the US
have used an online dating service; online dating is appealing to people who
feel their marriage/dating markets are diminished because of relocation,
retirement, and divorce or parenting demands
What does research on communication during online dating focus on? -
CORRECT ANSWER -How impressions and identities are managed online,
how specific online communication behaviors (self-disclosure, emotionality,
and relationship maintenance) occur and the effect they have, and how couples
vary in their dependence and use of online communication
How do people communicate online and what effect does this communication
have? - CORRECT ANSWER -Online dating often occurs at an accelerated
pace, with a flurry of email messages, compared to traditional dating where
partners begin with once a week dates; when a relationship exists exclusively
online, daters can put the brakes on a relationship more easily and abruptly by
blocking emails, not responding, and cashing in on any anonymity they have
maintained
Different online dating realtionships - CORRECT ANSWER -Virtuals- first
met online and still meet online
Pinocchios- first met online and now meet offline
, Real Worlders- first met offline and still meet offline
Cyber Emigrants- first met offline but now meet online
Winch's Complementary Needs Model - CORRECT ANSWER -
Homogamy of social characteristics is a strong influence on marital choice, but
only for preliminary screening to determine a field of eligible spouses; past the
preliminary screening, partners seek out people who are different so as to fulfill
complementary needs, yet people are not always aware of their needs and do not
always select mates based on those needs and people's ideal partners are often
more like their ideal selves rather than someone who is different
Murstein's Stimulus-Value-Role Model - CORRECT ANSWER -An
exchange theory suggesting that in a free choice situation, attraction and
interaction depend on the exchange of assets (behaviors and qualities that
reward) and liabilities (behaviors and qualities that are costly to others) that
each partner rings to the relationship; stimulus stage (first impressions based on
physical appearance, status, poise, etc.), value comparison stage (partners focus
on attitudes, beliefs, needs, desires), and role stage (whether the partner's roles
fits with respect to the other partner's roles); Murstein suggests that completing
each stage prepares a couple for marriage; however people tend to not like stage
models such as this one so interpersonal process models were created
Interpersonal Stage Models - CORRECT ANSWER -Courtship is affected
bu multiple variables and there are multiple paths to marriage- relationships do
not necessarily change in linear stages; consists of four courtship patterns:
accelerated types (partners moved gradually and rapidly in their certainty
toward marriage), accelerated-arrested types (partners moved rapidly toward
marriage early on, but lost momentum later), intermediate types (partners
progressed steadily toward marriage, but at a more moderate pace), and
prolonged types (partners had unusually long and sometimes rocky courtships);
relationship-driven commitments reflect turning points based on behavioral
interdependence and positive and negative attributions about the relationship
while event-driven commitments are marked by more frequent and dramatic
downturns, followed by upturns, and then downturns and so on- a more rocky
path
