“Here I go again”: An examination of repetitive behaviors during interpersonal conflicts

Initial goals, goal trajectories, and serial argument resolvability: A growth curve analysis

“…Despite the centrality of multiple goals in communication theory and research (e.g., Berger, 1997;Caughlin, 2010;Dillard, 2004), only a handful of known studies have examined how changes in goal importance during interactions may have implications for interpersonal communication (Hample & Dallinger, 1998;Samp, 2013;Turk & Monahan, 1999). We predicted that both initial importance and trajectories of increased importance for partner-focused (Hypothesis 1) and relationship-focused (Hypothesis 2) goals over the course of a serial argument discussion would be positively associated with perceptions of that argument's resolvability.…”

“…Conflict is rooted in partners' perceptions of incompatible goals (Canary, 2003), and successful negotiation requires attention to both one's own and a partner's goals (Lakey & Canary, 2002). In past research, individuals who reported that their goals shifted during a conflict episode also engaged in more unwanted negative behaviors and reported greater negative affect than those who did not recall their goals shifting (Turk & Monahan, 1999). This suggests that changes in communicators' goals during a conflict may influence their effectiveness in resolving that conflict successfully.…”

One more try: Compliance‐gaining strategies associated with romantic reconciliation attempts

“…Our results suggest that one's perceived breakup responsibility is related to one's confidence in attaining relational reconciliation and that the reconciliation process may well consist of multiple compliance-gaining attempts. Recognizing this serial aspect of compliance gaining when attempting reconciliation suggests that future inquiry into this topic could benefit from the serial conflict literature (e.g., Johnson & Roloff, 1998;Turk & Monahan, 1999).…”

Goal Variability and Perceived Resolvability in Serial Argumentation

“…Their argument focused on the global importance of communicators’ goals for an interaction, rather than moment-by-moment goal importance (e.g., Samp, 2013); nevertheless, their perspective highlights the communicative complexities that may arise due to goal variability within an interaction. Further, Turk and Monahan (1999) observed that individuals who reported shifting away from their initial goals for a conflict episode experienced more negative affect and conflict behaviors than those who reported their goals did not shift. Turk and Monahan assessed goal shifts in a rather dichotomous manner: Did individuals’ goals shift, or did they not?…”

“…Subsequent work has provided a more nuanced window into the ways in which communicators’ goals shift dynamically (Samp, 2013) and in multiple configurations (Keck & Samp, 2007), during the course of dyadic interaction. Nevertheless, existing research (Schrader & Dillard, 1998; Turk & Monahan, 1999) lends credence to the notion that goal shifts during conflict may influence individuals’ ability to successfully negotiate argumentative episodes.…”