Relationships and Interpersonal Skills
Relationships and Interpersonal Skills
This domain tests what makes relationships healthy, how to communicate boundaries, and how consent works in everyday and romantic situations. The exam favors specific behaviors over vague statements like 'be nice.'
Core rules
- Healthy relationships show respect, honesty, trust, equality, safety, and shared decision-making. Unhealthy signs include control, jealousy presented as love, isolation from friends, pressure, and guilt.
- Boundaries are limits you set about your body, time, privacy, and feelings. You can change a boundary at any time.
- Consent must be voluntary, informed, specific, enthusiastic, and reversible. It can be withdrawn. Silence, pressure, or a past 'yes' is not consent.
- Communication skills: active listening, 'I' statements ('I feel ___ when ___'), open questions, and calm disagreement. Conflict is normal; abuse is not.
- Digital boundaries: passwords, photos, and location are private. Pressuring someone for images is a serious violation.
Worked example
A friend asks for your phone password 'to prove trust.' Reasoning: trust does not require access to private accounts. A healthy response is, 'I care about our friendship, but I keep my password private. I can show you the photo directly.' This sets a boundary without insulting the friend. The exam credit comes from naming the boundary and offering an alternative, not from calling the friend toxic.
Traps
- Saying jealousy proves love.
- Treating consent as a one-time box to tick.
- Confusing conflict with abuse; disagreement can be respectful.
- Assuming sharing passwords is normal proof of friendship.