Interpersonal relationships

1.What is interpersonal relationships?

•A strong, deep or close association between two or more people that may be for a short or long duration is referred to as an interpersonal relationship.

Relationships are based on friendship, love, support, regular work interactions, or some other type of social commitment.

Activity 1: Understanding Others’ Emotions .

Empathy is the ability to share and understand the emotions of others. It is a construct of multiple components, each of which is associated with its own brain network. There are three ways of looking at empathy. First there is affective empathy.

•In any given situation, did all the characters experience the same emotions? Yes/No? Give examples.

•Why do you think different characters experienced different emotions?

•In a day-to-day situation, how do we get to know what the other person is feeling?

Explain the meaning of the word ‘empathy’.

Empathy is different than ‘sympathy’.

Sympathy means feeling sad or pity for someone’s sorrow or misfortune.

 Empathy means to be able to see things from the viewpoint of others that is, getting into someone else’s shoes; understanding and sharing others’ thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Empathy is important because it enables us to connect with people around us and build.

What is OLA - •Observe: Look at the other person carefully, look at the facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, postures, etc.

•Listen: Pay attention to the words, tone and facial expressions to understand what the other person is saying. Communicate that you are listening and have understood what is being said by nodding your head or saying ‘hmmm’, ‘okay’, ‘right’, etc.

 Ask to clarify: Try to confirm your understanding by stating the other person’s point in your own words and asking the person to confirm or otherwise

Nurturing Positive Relationships 

Spending positive one-on-one time with your child on a daily basis and simple gestures like acknowledging their feelings or praising small tasks can be a great foundation to building a stronger relationship.

•Relationships can be both positive and negative. While most relationships contribute to joy and overall development, negative or 

Dealing with Unhealthy Relationships

unhealthy relationships cause emotions like fear, humiliation, and pressure and obstruct our overall development. It is very important for us to learn to identify these relationships and learn how to deal with them.

•Characteristics of unhealthy relationships:

•People who never help or cooperate with us

•People whom we are afraid/scared of

•People who try to touch us in a wrong way

•People who make us uneasy

•People with whom we feel unsafe or insecure

•People who do not give any importance to us or our views/thoughts

•People who hurt us physically, mentally or emotionally

People who give us wrong advice or ask us to do wrong things/things that harm 

Communicating Assertively 

Assertively style 

Passive style 

Aggressive Style 

Passive: A person does not share wants, needs, desires or opinions. Passive communication gives you the feeling that your opinion doesn’t matter and you do not have a voice. It can lead to anger, frustration and other negative emotions. 

Aggressive: A person shares needs, wants, desires and opinions at the expense of others. This style may make you feel better in the moment, but you may lose relationships and may have difficulty forming new relationships. 

Assertive: This form of communication is characterised by honesty and a direct approach. Assertive communication is a healthy and positive style of communication that all of us should aspire to use. Being able to express our feelings/ thoughts without hesitation or anger may often seem difficult but this leads to resolving many conflicts. 

Building Harmonious Relationships 

•Expresses attraction and romantic feelings positively

•Demonstrates skills to negotiate with their parents and guardians

Demonstrates skills to negotiate more space and autonomy on issues of concern 

Resolving Conflict 

•Demonstrates understanding of different approaches of  resolving conflict

Practises skills to resolve conflict