Identifying patterns of verbal conflict in interpersonal dynamics

This paper presents a simple means of pragmatically identifying the occurrence of verbal conflict. The identification is structural in nature, based on the control aspects of verbalizations and consistent with the active opposition conceptualization of conflict. A verbal conflict is claimed to occur when three consecutive one‐up maneuvers have been manifested by the conversants. That is, a conflict results when speaker B's one‐up response to speaker A's one‐up statement is responded to with a one‐up maneuver by speaker A. The derivation of the identification is outlined, illustrations from husband‐wife conversations are presented, and the measure's research limitations and potentials are discussed.