Initially I thought the class topic would be great. But I didn't think the class was that great in the end. We had 3 hour lectures each week which were really hard to get through and Malamuth drags through with a lot of anecdotes and so on. I got the feeling that the teaching material hasn't been updated in a while. The slides are disorganized and old and the videos are totally old. That being said it's not like this stuff needs to be updated because I'm not sure how much it really changes, but the class just felt like it was being recycled. The textbooks were okay but overall the class was just unengaging and I didn't have the best time. The grade was 50/50 two non-cumulative exams, and they weren't that bad, and somehow (probably because corona helped) I ended up with an A without doing a single thing for this class all quarter. I never read (well sometimes but never on time) and barely listened in class.
In all, I would not recommend this class. It gets you the requirement and practicum out of the way, but I'd rather spend my education and time at UCLA taking classes that edify me and help me learn and have a good experience.

If I had read more about this class before enrolling, I definitely would not have taken it. I was really excited for this class, but I basically learned nothing. If you have taken any interpersonal comm or social psych class, this class is basically a review of it. Malamuth just seems to be over lecturing and not engaged with teaching. I guess that's what happens when you're tenured. He showed up to one of our lectures an hour and 20 minutes late! The only reason why people didn't leave is because it's a 3 hour class, and the TA was in contact with him. One of the most annoying aspects of the class was that it was 3 hours on Fridays. His lectures aren't very interesting, so that made the 3 hours feel especially long. I've heard that he likes 3 hour classes, but I feel like it's easy to fall behind and not put a lot of effort in a class if it's only one day a week.

Your grade is comprised of a midterm (50%) and final (50%), which aren't the easiest because of the application aspect. You could probably get by with a B by just reviewing the slides he posts and doing all of the readings. The readings were a ton (almost 200 pages some weeks). He did give study guides, which actually helped a lot when focusing on what to study.

Lecture wasn't very helpful, but he had some graphs and definitions on his slides that are worth knowing. There was extra credit offered with participation, but you have to email the TA with proof of examples that you participated. It was kind of weird, and I don't think many people took it up. His lectures aren't engaging and he talks too much about his own experiences, which basically ends up being him talking about his beliefs and weird stories about flirting from when he was younger. Also, his slides are a complete mess. There are a bunch of spelling errors, and he uses all capital letters and red font on some of his slides, which is hard to read. He shows some videos that appear to be from the 1990's, which helps to buy up some time. Also, there's always about 4 handouts passed out in class, which is super annoying to keep track of on the little fold out desks in lecture halls.

He doesn't make his own tests. The other professor who teaches (Bates) during another quarter does, so some of the material that he spent up to two weeks talking about was only 1 question on the midterm. The TA for the class was cool, and was a decent grader. I got high B's on both the midterm and final, but I can't complain much because I ended up getting an A-, due to the curve. The organization, structure, and style of the class wasn't ideal (at least for me).

Overall an engaging class about critical skills to use in conflict communication with a great professor who encourages class discussion and involvement. The readings were relatively easy but ESSENTIAL to get an A on the midterm (40% grade) and final (60%). Reading is not extensive if you keep up with the assigned chapters each week, but I managed to squeeze it all in a couple days before the exams and got A's on both tests. Both books are on reserve at the library, I would recommend forcing yourself to go in order to get the reading done (and take some notes on the key ideas of the text to study later). The lectures were engaging and interesting, especially for me because I took the course to learn new skills to use in conflict and I genuinely learned a lot. Malamuth managed to make 3 hours feel like half than that. I especially enjoyed reading the Difficult Conversations book towards the end of the quarter which gave great insight how people think during conflict and fave advice how to change the way you communicate to help resolve conflict productively. I definitely recommend taking the course as an easy upper division elective to even out a heavy load because the course is easy, the workload is minimal, and the material is very interesting with a great professor.

The class was easy, but I did not enjoy Professor's lectures.

Malamute is a great professor. He is very engaging and encourages lecture participation. Class and exams are straight forward. Good class to even out a heavy load.

Great teacher. Lectures were interesting, material was clear and relevant, he had an open mind, and he was good about class participation/comments. The tests were very straight forward and exactly what the readings and lectures taught. I loved this class and would take another with him anytime.

A bonus is that this class will give you very relevant skills that you can use after graduation.