The quality of interpersonal style concerns the degree to which you care for and sympathize with others. Those with high interpersonal style often put themselves in other people's shoes, or go out of the way to avoid damaging a relationship. Those with low interpersonal styles tend not to listen to others, or think about how their own actions affect other people.

After you have weighed your idealistic expectations of yourself against your most realistic sense of how you would respond, consider inviting another person to participate in this exercise with you. If you do so, we suggest that you discuss the ways in which each of you envisioned yourself and each other handling "The Big One." What do the predictions that each of you make tell you about the expectations you have of one another? How do these expectations influence the underlying dynamics of your relationship?