Interpersonal Skills — Practice Questions
CSAT-pattern practice on interpersonal and communication skills — workplace scenarios, active listening, Johari window, conflict styles and negotiation, fully explained.
Questions
These are original CSAT-pattern practice questions written for this site — not past UPSC papers. Target time: about 6 minutes for all six.
In a review meeting, a colleague presents an analysis that you prepared as if it were entirely his own work. What is the most appropriate response?
Solution
D is assertive and private-first: raise it with the colleague directly, then set the record straight with the manager calmly and with evidence.
- A — aggressive and public; it embarrasses everyone, including you.
- B — passive; the behaviour will repeat.
- C — damages teamwork and punishes everyone for one person’s conduct.
Answer: D
In the Johari window, the area that contains information about a person that is known to others but not known to the person is called the:
Solution
| Known to self | Not known to self | |
|---|---|---|
| Known to others | Open | Blind |
| Not known to others | Hidden | Unknown |
Feedback from others shrinks the blind area.
Answer: B
Consider the following behaviours:
- Paraphrasing the speaker’s point to confirm understanding
- Maintaining appropriate eye contact
- Interrupting the speaker immediately to correct a factual error
- Asking open-ended clarifying questions
How many of the above are features of active listening?
Solution
1, 2 and 4 are active-listening behaviours. 3 is not — interrupting breaks the speaker’s flow; the correction can wait until they finish. Three features.
Answer: C
A citizen arrives at your office’s grievance counter, angry and shouting because his certificate has been delayed for weeks. What should you do first?
Solution
Anger is a psychological barrier — it must be lowered before information can get through. A listens and acknowledges first, then solves the real problem (status, timeline, follow-up).
- B — aggressive; escalates the situation.
- C — dismissive; ignores a legitimate grievance.
- D — evasive; passes the problem on without help.
Answer: A
With reference to the Thomas–Kilmann model of conflict-handling styles, consider the following statements:
- Avoiding is low in both assertiveness and cooperativeness.
- Compromising is high in both assertiveness and cooperativeness.
- Accommodating is low in assertiveness and high in cooperativeness.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Solution
1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong — compromising sits in the middle of both axes; the style that is high on both is collaborating.
Answer: B
In negotiation, the term BATNA refers to:
Solution
BATNA = best alternative to a negotiated agreement (Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes, 1981): what you will do if no deal is reached. It sets the point at which walking away is better than agreeing. The lowest acceptable price (option B) is a related but different idea — the reservation point.
Answer: A