The Use and Consequences of Verbal Influence Strategies During Interpersonal Disagreements

Abstract

Interpersonal influence rtfers to the strateps and tactics communicators use to establish, reinforce, or alter one another's cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. It is argued that influence functions to attain instrumental goals, manage the relationship, and preserve desired identities. These threefunctions guided the development of a categoricnl system for classifying 36 verbal influence tactics according to six major strategy types applicable to the context 01 resolving disagreements. Videotaped interactions of 50 married couples were coded for strategy use by eight trained raters. The mostfrequently used strategies were content validation, self-assertions, and other accusations, whereas content invalidation, self-defense, and other-support received far less use. Correlational results between strategy use and consequences revealed that: (a) males were more persuasive when using content validation and self-assertions and less persuasive when using content invalidation and other-accusations, (b) females were more persuasive when using other-support and less persuasive when using content invalidation, and (c) greater communication satisfaction was experienmd by both partners when theother used supportive tactics and did not use accusuto y ones. Analyses of couples' khuvior suggests the predominant interaction pattern was reciprocal rather than compensatory. iewing interpersonal relationships as negotiated orders is becoming increasingly popular in the discipline of commuV nication. Implicit within this conceptualization is the assumption that partners exercise influence to establish, reinforce, and alter each other's cognitions, emotions, and behaviors (Seibold, Cantrill, & Meyers, 1985). To date, few investigations have dealt with influence behavior in close relationships; those that have, have focused almost exclusively on compliance-gaining and compliance-resisting techniques in which a source is attempting to achieve instrumental goals. Deborah A. Newton is Assistant Professor andludee K. Burgoon is Professor of Cornrnunication at the University of Arizona, Tucson. An earlier version of this article was presented at the International Communication Association convention, San Francisco, May 1989.