The document analyzes relationship stages and conflict styles seen in the movie "Crazy, Stupid, Love" using communication theory terms. It describes how the pre-interaction awareness and initiation stages are exhibited between Jacob and Hannah in the bar. It also outlines how Cal and Emily show signs of the stagnation and individualization stages. Examples are given of non-confrontational, confrontational, ego conflict, and pseudoconflict occurring at different points in the film.

1. Example Group’s Analysis of
Crazy, Stupid, Love (Chapter 8
terms)
Jennifer Millspaugh, Kristina
Curt, Kyle Stewart, Nina Dolor,
David Black

2. Terms: Pre-interaction Awareness, Initiation Stage

3. Pre-Interaction awareness
• Pre-Interaction Awareness –
first stage in which potential
partners or friends observe
each other without having
direct interaction
• In Crazy, Stupid, Love, this
stage occurs when Jacob
notices Hannah at the bar and
Hannah’s friend Liz notices
Jacob, but they have yet to dacouchtomato.blogspot.com
talk.

4. Initiation Stage
• Initiation Stage – first
conversations occur between
potential friends or romantic
partners.
• This stage occurs in the movie
when Jacob approaches
Hannah and Liz and
introduces himself. He tries to dennysisforwinners.wordpress.com
buy Hannah a drink but she
gets up to leave and brushes
Jacob off.

5. Terms: Stagnation Stage, Individualization Stage

6. Stagnation Stage
• Stagnation Stage – the
relationship loses its vitality
and partners become
complacent, taking each other
for granted.
• In the movie Crazy, Stupid,
Love, we meet Cal and Emily
in this stage. They are having newraleigh.com
dinner, but we can tell Cal is
complacent by his lack of
proper shoes. Their
conversation is bored and
forced.

7. Individualization Stage
• Individualization Stage –
partners tend to define their
lives more as individuals and
less as a couple.
• We see this stage in the movie
when Cal decides to take
another woman home from the
bar to his new apartment. poptower.com

8. Terms: Non-Confrontational Style, Confrontational Style

9. Non-Confrontational Style
• Non-confrontational Style – • Although there is no picture
responding to the conflict by available for this scene, we see
either avoiding or giving in to it in Crazy, Stupid, Love,
the other person. when Cal (Steve Carrell) jumps
out of his wife’s car after she
starts to expand on why she
wants a divorce. Rather than
face the unpleasant truth of
her infidelity, he avoids her by
leaping from the vehicle.

10. Confrontational Style
• Confrontational style – a win-
lose philosophy where one
person wants to win at the
expense of another.
• We see this style in the epic
scene near the end of the movie
when Jacob punches David
Lindhagen for sleeping with
Cal’s wife, and Cal punches
Jacob for sleeping with his detroitmommies.com
daughter.

11. Terms: Post-dissolutional relationship, destructive conflict

12. Post-Dissolutional Relationship
• Post-dissolutional relationship
– the relationship formed
between partners after their
relationship terminates
• This term can been seen in
Crazy, Stupid, Love when Cal
and Emily meet at their son’s
Teacher-Parent meeting. They
discuss their son and also their
feelings for each other now that
examiner.com
they are separated.

13. Destructive Conflict
• Destructive conflict is
characterized by a lack of
cooperation in dealing with
differences and dismantles
rather than restores
relationships
• Destructive conflict is seen
also during the Teacher-Parent
meeting when Ms. Taffety ew.com
reveals she and Cal slept
together and he never called
her back. Cal and Emily then
get into an argument and she
leaves.

14. Terms: Ego conflict, Pseudoconflict

15. Ego Conflict
• Ego conflict – conflict based
on personal issues in which
people attack each other’s self-
esteem
• Ego conflict occurs in Crazy,
Stupid, Love when Hannah’s
boyfriend Richard fails to
propose to her, stating he isn’t
ready for that kind of
commitment. Hannah insults
him and leaves him
immediately.
poptower.com

16. Pseudoconflict
• Pseudoconflict – conflict
stemming from a lack of
understanding
• Pseudoconflict occurs in the
movie when Jessica’s parents
discover the risky photos she
took of herself intending to movies.zap2it.com
give them to Cal. Her dad
thinks a relationship is
happening between them and
he goes crazy, when in fact, Cal
has no idea Jessica is in love
with him.