The pursuit of multiple objectives in face‐to‐face persuasive interactions: Effects of construct differentiation on message organization

Abstract

This is paper describes the development of a system for analyzing the management of multiple communicative goals in interpersonal arguments. The message analysis system was designed to classify conversationally produced messages in terms of (1) the communicative role of the message producer; (2) the position taken toward the issue on the floor; (3) the explicitness with which conflict is acknowledged; and (4) the manner in which the subsidiary communicative goals of face protection and interaction maintenance are managed. In an initial investigation using this system, differential reliance on goal management strategies was associated, on the one hand, with individual differences in construct differentiation, and on the other hand, with differing degrees of interpersonal success. Associations among the four dimensions of the message analysis system were also observed, and were consistent with a rational goal‐based analysis of communication.