Arykah Wynn

11/17/21
COM-1010
Dr. Coleman
Assignment #8 - Interpersonal Relationships
My personal definition of interpersonal relationships is the connection or affiliation between two
or more people. I have many interpersonal relationships in my life such as friends and family.
This connection can be between family, friends, and even your partner. Personally, I am not a
huge people person but I manage, but interpersonal relationships add a lot of value to my life.
Interpersonal relationships instill knowledge about managing conflict, communication skills, and
being able to adapt to unfamiliar things or ideas. Interpersonal add the value of being patient
and communicating about anything to my friends and family. The interpersonal relationships that
I have built over the years bring me nothing but happiness and joy. These relationships
enlighten me of new things every day, which makes me find comfort and contentment within
myself. They also help me show me the values and morals I need to be a good and
kind-hearted person. I believe in an interpersonal relationship you should be open and honest
about opinions and ideas. This may even lead to disagreements but this should strengthen the
relationship even further. My brother is like my best friend but we have had countless
disagreements but this teaches me conflict management skills. In the interpersonal relationships
that I have with my family and friends, I would certainly communicate differently with others.
Communicating with people I barely know, I am quiet, reserved, barely talk. As I mentioned
early I am not a people person so it takes a lot out of me to talk and have conversations with
people I do not know. When I communicate to my family and friends I feel like I can (for the most
part) speak freely but with others, I am more on guard and cautious. If I am around someone I
am unfamiliar with I would be quiet, reserved, shy, and cautious/observant of what I do and say.
For example, my best friend and I were invited to a birthday dinner celebrating a friend of ours.
There were about 6 other girls that we did not know. I could sense from the moment we sat
down at the table that something was off so I decided that we should just go because I just knew
something was off with the energy at the table. My thoughts on this are I feel like everyone is a
little more reserved when talking to someone that they barely know. What I need to learn is that
although I am not a people person, people are attracted to me because of how I carry myself
and my personality. The value that I add to my interpersonal relationship is overthinking which is
not always a good thing. For example, if my brother and I are planning to do something we
know we are not supposed to do, I will think through every possible scenario and find a solution
to that problem. The solution will most likely be not doing it because I can think myself out doing
things. My sibling and friends tell me all the time to just live in the moment and be free. Another
value that I bring to my interpersonal relationships is adaptiveness. When you are getting to
know a person you learn about their unique personality and you have to learn to adapt to their
uniqueness. Adapting does not mean you have to change from them you modify or adjust to the
bright and bold personality. For example, a close friend of mine personality is very bold and we
used to disagree all the time to the point where I wanted to end the friendship until I realize that
she was adapting to my personality as well and I had to sit back and adjust myself to this new
unfamiliar person. Interpersonal relationships are about enjoying their company, feeling
comfortable, and free around them.