Interpersonal Relations And Its Theories

When a child is born the first social institution that he is introduced to is his family. The father, mother, brother and sister - all these members possess distinct personalities and act according to their respective gender roles. These roles are recognized by the newly born baby.

• Primary Stage

In layman terms, a male child would look up to his father and take interest in sports or the ways to fixing a car. On the other hand, a female child would wear her mother’s oversized heels pretending to be like her or might show interest in cooking et cetera. Over this period of primary socialization, children tend to associate themselves to their family members and create strong bonds based on love, care and most of all trust.

• Secondary Stage

The secondary stage of socialization is when a child is exposed to the outside world by going to school. Here it meets new people and the next stage of interpersonal relations begins. If a child was neglected or was not attached to his parents, it might tend to distance itself in situations where a meeting new person is concerned. The basic human need is to be emotionally attached. If it has been provided to a child sufficiently, they can make stronger, healthier relationships later in life. This is often called the attachment theory.

• Interpersonal Relations Outside Of Family

Eventually people are required to build interpersonal relations outside the family. This is when one is out on a date with someone, making new friends or getting to know people at a workplace; one tries to reduce the uncertainty by getting to know the world and people around. When you first meet somebody, you don’t know if you will be best friends with them. Even on a first date, you don’t know if you will get along with the person on the other end of the table well enough to be in a relationship with them. This is what the uncertainty reactions theory is. You need to narrow down the possibilities by spending time with these people and getting to know them personally.

The dialectal theory explains that circumstances don’t always remain the same in a relationship between two or more people. It is only through hard times that if they are worked and communicated well, relationships can be successful. This requires a lot of patience and awareness in order for their interpersonal relationships to work. Situations cannot always remain the same; change is the way to improvement.

All these theories are core ingredients to building successful relationships and one must acquire these abilities.