Talks about theory-building, research, and application issues on aggressive communication. In addition to describing the two predispositions and their measurement, this book synthesizes the corpus of research in several communication contexts, including family, organizational, intercultural, instructional and mediated contexts.

Research and study in argumentative communication has been one of the most dominant lines of communication research for the past two decades. Argumentative and Aggressive Communication is the first book entirely devoted to the theory-building, research and application issues on aggressive communication. In addition to fully describing the two predispositions and their measurement, it synthesizes the large corpus of research in several communication contexts, including family, organizational, intercultural, instructional and mediated contexts. It provides prescriptions for managing aggressive communication in these contexts. A final chapter provides conclusions drawn from this literature, as well as offers suggestions for future work on aggressive communication.

Part I: The Structure and Origin of Argumentative and Aggressive Communication 1.
What are Argumentative and Aggressive Communication?

The Genesis of the Theory of Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

Purpose of This Book

The Importance of Communication Traits

What are Communication Traits?

What is Aggressive Communication?

Constructive Aggressive Communication Traits

Categories of Trait Argumentativeness

Destructive Aggressive Communication Traits

Causes of Verbal Aggressiveness

Argumentative and Aggressive Communication Traits and Personality Theory

The Dimensions of Personality

The Relationship Between Temperament and Aggressive Communication Traits

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 1 2. Measuring Individual Differences in Argumentative and Agressive Communication

Measuring the Argumentative and Verbal Aggressiveness Traits

The Development of the Argumentative Scale

The Development of the Verbal Aggressivness Scale

Challenges to the Scales

Critiques of the Argumentativeness Scale

Critiques of the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale

Alternative Methods of Assessing Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

Assessing Beliefs About Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 2 3. Trait, State, and Interactionist Approaches to Studying Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

The Trait Perspective on Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

The Situationist Perspective on Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

Situational Factors: Topic and Topic Salience

Situational Factors: The Adversary's Attributes

Argument Topic

Context and Characteristics as Situational Influences

The Interactionist Approach to Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 3 Part II: The Function of Argumentative and Aggressive Communication 4. Argumentative and Aggressive Communication in Relational and Family Contexts

Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness in General Interpersonal Relationships

Friendship Relationships

Dating Relationships

Family Relationships

Marital Relationships

Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness, and Interspousal Violence

Sibling Pairs

Parent-Child Dyads

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 4 5. Argumentative and Aggressive Communication in Organizational Contexts

Organizational Satisfaction

Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness and Satisfaction

Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness and Gender Differences in the Organization

Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness and Other Organizational Constructs

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 5 6. Argumentative and Verbally Aggressive Communication in Instructional Contexts

The Influence of Instructor Trait Argumentativeness

The Influence of Instructor Trait Verbal Aggressiveness

The Influence of Instructor Use of Verbally Aggressive Messages

Characteristics of the Argumentative Student

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 6 7. Argumentative and Aggressive Communication in Intercultural and Intracultural Contexts

Co-Cultural Differences in Argumentative and Verbal Aggressiveness

Regional Differences in Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness

West Meets West

East Meets West

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 7 8. Argumentative and Aggressive Communication in Mass and Mediated Communication

Social Learning, the Media and Aggression

Television Situation Comedies

Comparing Sitcoms to Other Television Genres

Televised Wrestling

Music

Other Mediated Communication Research

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 8 9. Argumentative and Aggressive Communication in Persuasion and Social Influence Situations

An Orientation to Persuasion

An Orientation to Compliance-Gaining

Persuasion and Compliance-Gaining Research: A focus on Traits

A Transactional Approach to Argumentativeness and Persuasion

Processing Persuasive Messages: The Influence of Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness and Compliance-Gaining Behavior

Determining Intentions to Argue: Testing Two Frameworks

Argumentative and Aggressive Communication and Resistance to Persuasion

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 9 Part III: Enhancing Communicative Outcomes Through Improved Understanding
of Argumentative and Aggressive Communication Processes 10. Modifying Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

The Call for Training

The Inventional System

Training Adults to Argue Constructively

Training in Argument

Training Adolescents to Argue Constructively

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 10 11. Relating Argumentative and Aggressive Communication with Apprehension, Adaptation and Personality Traits

The Relationship of Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness and Apprehension Traits

The Relationship of Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness and Personality Traits

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 11 12. Advancing Research and Theory-Building Efforts on Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

A Problem-Centered Approach to Communication Inquiry

The Research Contributions

A Focus on the Message/Individual

Cultural Influence Focus

Theoretical Foundation/Meta-Theory Focus

Measurement/Theoretical Refinement Focus

Conclusion

Discussion Questions for Chapter 12 Appendix A - The Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness Scales Appendix B - The Adolescent Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness Scales Appendix C - Short-Form Versions of the Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness Scales Appendix D - The Affective-Behavioral-Cognitive Scale (ABCAS) Appendix E - The Indirect Interpersonal Aggressiveness Scale Appendix F - The Beliefs About Arguing Measure Appendix G - Additional Resources on Argumentative and Aggressive Communication References Index