Question

Which relational dialectic is causing tension in the following scenario? Greg and Anna work together. They're good friends and talk a lot. But Anna doesn't feel comfortable telling Greg about her problems with her boyfriend. She's frustrated that he keeps asking her about them. autonomy-connection novelty-predictability openness-privacy

Answer 1

Hi!

The correct answer would be openness-privacy.

Explanation

Relational Dialectic is a theory describing communication patterns in interpersonal relationships (in romantic relationships, friendships and family relationships). This theory mainly explains the struggles and tensions that surface between relationships.

The internal dialectics include:

• autonomy-connection

• novelty-predictability

• openness-privacy

Openness-Privacy is a dialectic that describes an individual's desire to communicate openly, while being entitled to a certain degree of privacy on some matters. For instance, in this case, Anna and Greg are seemingly good friends and share a lot of conversations on various subjects; however,  Anna dislikes Greg's incessant questions regarding the problems she has with her boyfriend because to Anna this subject falls in a more personal domain and she does not want to disclose private matters with Greg, though they talk a great deal.

Hope this helps!