Finds that more argument and less verbal aggression were observed in constructive as compared to destructive disagreements regardless of context; more verbal aggression was reported in family as compared to organizational disagreements; and participants, when compared to observers, perceived the most argument and verbal aggression. (SR)

Examines communicative responses to the highly argumentative person. Finds that the adversary's use of verbal aggression provokes male subjects to be more verbally aggressive, but stimulates female subjects to be more argumentative. (RAE)

Presents validation, from a communication perspective, for semantic differential scales designed to measure attitude toward an object. The favorableness of sources' verbal behavior about an object was related to sources' attitudes toward the object. Receivers accurately estimated sources' attitudes and the favorableness of sources' verbal…

Explores the relationship between arguing and verbal aggression and the benefits accruing from argumentativeness. Found that students who are highly argumentative are not easily provoked to using verbal aggression in an argument, supporting the view that verbal aggression often stems from a lack of skill in arguing. (PD)

Discusses a recent conceptualization of argumentativeness. Reports on an investigation of characteristics of argumentative students, which included variables such as birth order, family size, high school training, college grade point average, etc. Supports the assumption that argumentativeness is a desirable communication trait and considers…

Same-sex dyads, consisting of a high or low argumentative college student paired with a moderate, argued a controversial topic. Analysis revealed seven dimensions of communication behavior discriminated between high and low argumentatives: flexibility, interest, verbosity, expertise, dynamism, willingness to argue, and argumentative skill. (PD)

Reports on the development of a valid and reliable instrument to measure verbal aggressiveness. (PD)