Serial Arguments in Classrooms

Abstract

Serial arguing has mainly been studied in the context of close relationships. This study generalizes those theories and findings to the context of classrooms. Respondents (N = 348) reported on serial arguments they had experienced either in college or in high school classes. High school serial arguments were more brutish than those in college. Resolvability was positively associated with classroom climate and arguers' civility. Approach and avoidance motives predicted the degree to which a range of arguers' goals come into play, and the goals predicted the tactics in use. The tactics, in turn, predicted the resolvability, climate, and civility of the serial arguments.

Keywords:

• Classroom
• Climate
• Goals
• Serial Argument
• Tactics

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, November 2009, Chicago, IL.

Notes

Note. Means are in reference to a 5-point scale.

Note. The n is 348 or 346 for all correlations. Decimals are omitted. An r of |.10| or greater is significant at p < .05.

Note. The n for the high school subsample is 185 and for the college sample is 163.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note. Pillais' F(14, 308) = 6.95, p < .001. The final column reports results of multiple regressions in which each variable is predicted by all those in the other group.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note. Pillais' F(28, 294) = 6.06, p < .001. The final column reports results of multiple regressions in which each variable is predicted by all those in the other group.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note. “Causing” variables are on the horizontal axis and “effects” variables on the vertical. Variables are 1 = approach, 2 = negative expression, 3 = change other, 4 = dominance, 5 = progress in class, 6 = mutuality, 7 = positive expression, 8 = hurt other, 9 = other demands, 10 = initiator demands, 11 = distributive tactics, 12 = integrative tactics, 13 = climate, 14 = civility, and 15 = resolvability. All but seven of the coefficients are significant at p < .001; the others are significant at p < .01 or p < .05.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dale Hample

Dale Hample is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

Benjamin Krueger

Benjamin Krueger is an Instructor in the Department of Communication Studies at Winona State University, Winona, MN.