A review and integration of research on serial arguments

ABSTRACT

Serial arguments are conflict interactions that recur about the same topic, within the same relationship, and without achieving resolution. A consequential form of interpersonal communication, serial arguments have captured over 30 years of research interest, and the knowledge generated about this phenomenon is robust yet scattered. In this essay, we organize this research landscape by reviewing key findings and identifying unanswered questions related to defining and characterizing serial arguments, intrapersonal and interpersonal processes, and within-episode and between-episode dynamics of serial arguments. We then present a roadmap that synthesizes extant literature and advances an agenda for future research on serial arguments. We conclude with a discussion to highlight opportunities for generating new insights into serial arguments.

KEYWORDS:

• Serial argument
• goals
• conflict tactics
• interpersonal communication
• dynamic dyadic systems

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Denise Solomon for her feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Arguments and conflict are distinct constructs. We subscribe to the definition of conflict as ‘an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals’ by Hocker and Wilmot (1978, p. 8), and view arguments as the episodic enactments of conflict, or ‘disagreement relevant speech events […] characterized by the projection, avoidance, production, or resolution of disagreement’ (Jackson & Jacobs, 1980, p. 254). Despite the conceptual distinction, the two terms are near-synonyms in both scholarly and lay discourse. Thus, we decided to use terminology in a way that is reflective of the literature, rather than prescriptive.

2 A nomological network consists of the constructs relevant to a theory or phenomenon and the interrelationships among them. In our view, a nomological network of serial arguments includes the antecedents, features, and outcomes of serial arguments, as well as personal dispositions, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors of the interdependent actors.

3 To take stock of serial argument research and facilitate future reviews, we compiled the primary studies and theoretical articles reviewed in this essay (see online supplemental materials).