Listening Before Answering: teacher key

Arguing and Making Up, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. Research on fights between friends points to listening, calming down and a careful apology. Studies of apologies and conversational receptiveness show what works.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many undergraduate students took part in the study with a hypothetical scenario about a fictional friend?
   • 191
   • 171 (answer)
   • 483
2. What do researchers suggest if you do not know the other person well?
   • A short apology said quickly
   • Waiting until the person speaks first
   • Detailed apologies with several parts (answer)
3. Why does hedging with 'sometimes' or 'maybe' help, according to Julia Minson?
   • It makes people argue back less (answer)
   • It shortens the whole conversation
   • It shows who is responsible
4. In the study of 191 pairs of best friends, who used more moral reasoning?
   • Friends who said they resolved conflicts constructively (answer)
   • Friends who said their conflict resolution was poor
   • Friends who disagreed about how they resolved it
5. What does an expression of remorse show, according to Lazare?
   • Explaining what you meant to do
   • You understand their suffering (answer)
   • Asking the other person to say sorry too

Words

• remorse: sorry for harm
• reparation: making amends
• receptiveness: openness
• perspective: point of view