Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships
Video and Multimedia
Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.
Video 1: Invited Lecture: The Importance of Being Prosocial: Kory Floyd, PhD
Description: Chapter 7 describes affectionate communication and affection exchange theory. In this CCARE Stanford University lecture, Dr. Kory Floyd explains the latest research on expression affection and the health benefits of prosocial supportive communication. What are the benefits and risks involved in the giving and receiving process of affection?
Video 2: How to Connect With Anyone
Description: There are different types of closeness in relationships. In this 4-min experiment, six pairs in different stages of their relationship maintain eye contact, to determine if it increases intimacy and emotional closeness. After reviewing this video, do you think that eye contact enhances intimacy and emotional closeness? Why or why not?
Video 3: Communicating Closeness: How Intimate Relationships Are Maintained
Description: Chapter 7 discusses different types of social support to nurture close relationships. This UCLA Relationship Institute video discusses how social support nurtures closeness in close relationships. If partners are effective at engaging in social support, how does this impact their partners?
Video 4: Journalists Test: Interpersonal Closeness
Description: How does one assess relational closeness? In this experiment, journalists test a 1997 experiment on several individuals, to determine whether asking relationship questions can enhance their relational closeness. What is your perspective on the use of this communicative strategy?
Video 5: The Power & Science of Social Connection: Emma Seppälä TEDx
Description: In this TEDx talk, Emma Seppälä talks about the power of social connection. What are the health advantages of relational closeness? What are the negative consequences of feeling lonely and socially distant from others in relationships?
Video 6: Social Support & Wellness--Chandra Story--TEDxOStateU
Description: In this TEDx talk, Chandra reveals her personal story of social support and wellness. How does supportive communication improve our social lives?
Video 7: Nonverbal Immediacy Behaviors
Description: This lecture of nonverbal immediacy behaviors displays the different types of nonverbal cues that one can display to improve student–teacher relationships. What nonverbal immediacy behaviors do you use effectively to nurture positive relationships with your teachers, friends, or family members?
Audio 1: Communicating About Sex and Affection
Description: Chapter 7 discusses how to use communication to express affection with one’s romantic partner. In this podcast, Mike Domitrz, a leading expert in sexual culture, discusses strategies to help couples communicate about sex and affection. How can couples communicate affection using both verbal and nonverbal communication?
Audio 2: Teen Girls Flip the Negative Script on Social Media
Description: Negative scripts and comments exist in social media. However, in this NPR podcast, teens discuss how they use social media to be socially supportive to other teens. Do you ever use social media to support your friends, romantic partners, or family members? How is online social support different from face-to-face social support?
Audio 3: Measures of Affection: Five Musical Love Letters
Description: How do couples express affection to each other? In this NPR podcast, Tom Huizenga shares five musical love letters that communicate affection in romantic relationships. Have you ever written a letter to a romantic partner? If so, what impact did it have in your relationship with this person?
Audio 4: Emotional Support Baselines
Description: In this Relationship Matters podcast, emotional support baselines in relationships are explored, given the findings of an emotional support study. What occurs when one gets too much emotional support in relationships? What is an emotional support baseline?
Web 1: Relationship Closeness
Description: Chapter 7 illustrates several types of relationship closeness. In this Carnegie Mellon University project entitled Common Cold Project, there is a relationship closeness inventory. Select any close romantic relationship and determine how close you are to this person by taking the relationship closeness inventory (RCI).
Web 2: Fear of Intimacy and Closeness in Relationships
Description: Dr. Hal Shorey discusses the fear of intimacy and closeness in relationships in this Psychology Today article. What strategies can you adopt to cope with a partner’s avoidance of closeness and intimacy in a relationship? What communication issues might emerge because of a partner’s avoidant behavior?
Web 3: Nonverbal Immediacy Scale
Description: What are your nonverbal immediacy skills in relationships? Measure your nonverbal immediacy skills in relationships by completing this Nonverbal Immediacy Scale. What are your nonverbal immediacy strengths and weaknesses in relationships?
Web 4: Are You Getting Enough Affection From Your Partner?
Description: In this Psychology Today blog, Dr. Sean Horan discusses what occurs when one does not get enough affection from one’s partner.
Description: Chapter 7 discusses several social support strategies to enhance relationships. This Communication Currents article suggests that the social support strategies also function to support ill individuals in online settings. What are the differences and similarities between face-to-face and online-only social support?