Confrontational Style Research Articles

Effects of Presenting Heavy Drinking Norms on Adolescents? Prevalence Estimates, Evaluative Judgments, and Perceived Standards

Correcting normative information about the prevalence of heavy drinking is a key element in many prevention programs. To isolate the influence of normative information on older high school students' (n = 230) alcohol-related judgments, the effects of delivering normative information in different contexts (no normative information, normative information only, normative information plus a self-focusing comparison to one's drinking) and under different measurement conditions (public, private) were examined. First, relative to presenting no norms, presenting norms both with and without a self-focus reduced the underestimation of the percent of high school students who never drink heavily. Second, effects on both positive and negative evaluations of heavy drinking were examined independently. Heavy drinking students more strongly endorsed positive evaluations of heavy drinking than did non-heavy drinking students, but this self-serving bias was limited to the normative information only condition. Normative information failed to impact negative evaluations of heavy drinking for students at all drinking levels. Third, in judging the acceptable number of heavy drinking days approved by others, presenting the normative information in both contexts (relative to presenting no norms) led to more conservative judgments. Yet, only the normative context that added a self-focus to the norm led students to adopt more conservative personal standards for the acceptable number of heavy drinking days. Finally, public versus private measurement did not affect any of the dependent variables. The findings are discussed as they relate to confrontational versus empathic styles in delivering interventions.

The future of women and conservatism

y ~ a understand how American society understands-nd misunderstands--its conservative women, let me offer up radio host Laura Flanders' recent book Bushwomen: "Fales oJ'a Cynical Species, which posits that conserw~tive women are so cynical, and so traitorous to their sex, that any proper American ought to consider them an entirely different species. Flanders describes the supposedly pernicious influence of women such as National Security Advise, Condoleeza Rice, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and presidential advise." Karen Hughes, dismissing them as "'sinister" operatives whose careers might more accurately be described as one large "'con job." It is perhaps not a surprise that Flanders identifies herself as feminist and a liberal. In a recent review, the Washington Post paired Flanders' book with former Ladies" Home Jourmd editor Myrna Blyth's Spin Sisters: How the Women of the Media Sell UnhalV~iness--and Liberalism--to the Women o,/" America. Blyth is quite harsh in her assessment of her industry and argues that the conventional wisdom among women's magazine editors nearly always t.ncritically endorses the feminist view of women's status in American society. Blyth, who now writes a column for Nati(mal Review Online. describes herself as a conservative. Tactically, however, Blyth's book mirrors Flanders" in many ways: both are written in the confrontational style now unfortunately ascendant in the world of publishing, and both succumb to fits of hyperbole in making their arguments. And yet, while the reviewer in the Post called Flanders" work a "'serious book" with an "ilnportant thesis," she dismissed Blyth's as "'a screed'" full of "vitriol," apparently lbr no other reason than that the reviewer herself finds Flanders" liberalism more congenial than Blyth's conservatism. Just beneath the surface, however, one senses a deeper current of outrage fi'om the reviewer: What kind of woman is this'? Who would actually think this way? These are the questions she barely restrains herself from asking. Quite a few of us think that way, actually, and the sputtering horror with which we are often greeted is nothing new. One .night recall that Susan Faludi, Backlash author and early feminist primatologist of conservative women's politics, once described conservative women as "pod feminists," and that Washington Feminist Faxnet chinaed in with the less decorous assessment, "she-wolves." "In time honored fashion," Faludi wrote, "'antifeminist male leaders had enlisted women to handle the heavy lifting in the campaign against their own rights." Conservative women, in other words, are the benighted, self-loathing, misogynistic pawns of powerful men. A regular litany of complaints about our collective false consciousness, our elite misperceptions, and our tireless, self-hating campaigns to strip women of their rights can be found from the 1980s through to the present. Conservative women's current standard bearers, such as pundit-combatant Ann Coulter, are, I fear, doing little to help alter such misjudgments. Their task is to provoke (and self-promote), and while some conservatives ,night admire their fearlessness in doing so, the efforts of Coulter and her ilk contribute more to the polarizing vacuity of contemporary political debate than to conserw~tive intellectual culture. True, conservative media and conservative activists have had astonishing success recently in their challenges to the dominance of liberal ideas in the mainstream media and on college campuses. But it is not clear that this media presence will spark a wholesale shift in the country's ()pinion of conservative women; indeed, the extrelne tone adopted by some female pundits promises to erode whatever goodwill moderately minded people .night have had towards conservatives. To make a genuine shift possible, conservative wonlen must begin to write our own history, a history that offers a balanced assessment of conservat ive women's influence on American political, intellectual, and cultural life. "'Conservatives respect the wisdom of their ancestors," Russell Kirk declared in The Consem,ative Mind, "'they are dubious of wholesale alteration." Kirk, who was enamored of Edmund Burke, challenged conserva-

Managing conflict to improve the effectiveness of retail networks

Retailers are becoming involved with networks consisting of multiple firms in order to more effectively perform business activities such as supply chain management. This research develops and tests a framework outlining the effects of conflict in networks and how conflict management can mitigate and exacerbate these effects. A study of 81 simulated networks finds that inter-personal and task conflict have a negative effect on network member satisfaction and desire to be a member of the network. The use of a collaborative conflict management style has a positive effect on satisfaction and desire for continuity, but the effects of accommodative and confrontational styles depend on the level of inter-personal and task conflict present in the network.

The Legislative Record: The Japan National Diet in 2003

The performance of the Japanese Diet in 2003 indicates that a new political era may have begun. The rate at which government sponsored bills were passed in 2003 was 11 per cent higher than in 2002. The unity of government parties, especially the unified support of the Komei Party, the high approval rates of Koizumi Cabinet, and changes in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition party, all contributed to this high passage rate. Most notable was a change in the treatment of national security issues. The confrontational style of the 1955 regime gave way to a new political era of discussion and compromise through the Diet deliberation. The Koizumi cabinet demonstrated strong leadership over the government parties, and the cabinet made many substantial policy decisions.

Consensus, Legitimacy, and the Exercise of Judgement in Political Deliberation

Deliberative Democrats have been criticised for promoting an overly consensual style of politics. Agonistic democrats argue that this is because they allow justice to displace 'the political' while others make the opposite charge: deliberative democrats pay insufficient attention to justice and the confrontational style of politics which may be necessary to secure social justice. I argue that the deliberative model aims at strengthening democratic legitimacy, not at producing consensus and that it is centrally concerned with stimulating the exercise of citizens' capacity for judgement. The duty of civility should be regarded as a duty to make impartial judgements, not as a duty to seek compromises. Citizens cannot abdicate their deliberative capacities to any democratic procedure, but must, in the final analysis, judge whether to consent to or dissent from the outcomes of any procedure and an impartial assessment may positively require dissent in some circumstances. 1 Schumpeter took a dim view of the deliberative capacities of the average

Therapist characteristics in the treatment of sexual offenders: Tentative data on their relationship with indices of behaviour change

The present study examined the relationship between reliably identified therapist characteristics and treatment-induced changes in sexual offender treatment programmes in English prisons. The results indicated that 10 therapist features predicted beneficial changes in coping skills, perspective-taking, and relationship difficulties. A confrontational style, on the other hand, was negatively related to increased competence in coping. The results are discussed in terms of their research and clinical implications.

What Concerns Subjects with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and an Ileostomy?

Background: The greatest concern of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is of having an ileostomy. The aim of this study was to describe worries and concerns in subjects with IBD and an ileostomy, and aspects of quality of life and coping strategies. Methods: 21 subjects with an ileostomy were included, mean age 51, range 36-65 (F/M r = r 12/9), Crohn disease (CD) n r = r 14, ulcerative colitis (UC) n r = r 6 and indeterminate colitis (IDC) n r = r 1. Worries and concerns were assessed using the rating form of IBD patient concerns (RFIPC). Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed using Short Form 36 (SF-36) and compared with a matched group for age and gender from the general population. Subjects' definition of quality of life, as well as perceived quality of life on a visual analogue scale, was evaluated. Coping strategies were investigated using the Jalowiec coping scale (JCS 40). Results: Greatest concerns were related to intimacy, access to quality medical care, energy level, loss of sexual drive, producing unpleasant odours, being a burden, ability to perform sexually, attractiveness and feelings about the body. Vitality was significantly reduced compared to controls. Subjects' definition of good quality of life mainly concerned social dimensions of life and health. Low values on perceived quality of life indicated greater concerns. Confrontational coping style was most frequently used. Conclusion: The greatest concern for subjects with an ileostomy was intimacy. Vitality was reduced compared to controls. Integrating items of concern into counselling may result in greater coping ability and improved quality of life.

Arousal Styles during Public Speaking

The nature of the public-speaking context as a physiologically arousing communication context is well-known. During public speaking, a significant increase in heart rate level above the baseline has been found in various studies. In these studies, arousal styles during speaking have generally been described on the basis of mean heart rates among a group of participants. Individual variation in HR responses has not received much attention. The purpose of the present study was to examine individual differences in heart rate responses during public speaking and to account for these differences in terms of particular explanatory variables. The heart rate curves of 47 speakers were examined one by one in order to see what different arousal styles emerged. As a result, four styles were distinguished: the confrontation style, inflexible style, insensitive style, and average style. Different combinations of the speaker's subjectively experienced state, level of trait anxiety, and public speaking experience were typically associated with each of these styles.

Traditions of dispute: from negotiations of talmudic texts to the arena of political discourse in the media

Israeli political talk-show debates are notoriously fierce and overtly confrontational. To understand the structures and origins of this discursive style, we apply a historical pragmatics perspective, comparing debates of current political events on a popular talk-show to a classic and historically cherished form of traditional Jewish argumentation—the oral study of the premodern Talmud—as performed through paired-study debate (xavruta) in contemporary Talmudic academies. The institutional environments and deeper social significance of the two speech events we compared are highly divergent: Political talk shows represent the uneasy coexistence of real-life conflict and antagonistic game, while xavruta interactions make use of a superficially adversarial format to maximize mutual comprehension between interlocutors and ultimately enhance sociability. Yet on the level of performance—in rhetorical strategy and confrontational style—they have marked similarities. Transcribed recordings of debates in these two arenas of argument were analyzed and compared, and the analysis yields a series of marked similarities in discursive attributes between the two. These similarities include: i. a marked preference for disagreement, ii. high dialogicity of the exchanges in the sense of nuanced listening and responding, iii. acceptability of occasional disruptions in the dialogicity of the conversation-flow without its breakdown, and iv. high complexity of logic and structure in argument and argumentation. Given the direction of the historical timeline, these findings suggest the possibility of a carry-over of discursive styles from the religious/scholarly milieu to the public sphere of ideological and political debate. The survival of this unique discursive style from antiquity to the present, both within and across the scholarly, educational, and public spheres, and across media of communication, would demonstrate the resilience of traditional cultural patterns in the face of radical technological, political, and ideological change.

The Strangest Dream: Communism, Anti-Communism and the U. S. Peace Movement, 1945-1963

Strangest Dream: Communism, Anti-Communism, and the US. Peace Movement, 1945-1963. By Robbie Lieberman. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000. Pp. 272. Illustrations, index. Cloth, $34.95. A volume in the Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution series. Robbie Lieberman, associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University and author of the award winning Song Is My Weapon: People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture (1989), has long been involved in promoting and studying peace movements. Combining her various academic interests, she now directs her attention to the convoluted connection between the always controversial Communist Party and the struggle to promote peace from the 1930s into the 1960s. As a fitting touch, the book's title and each chapter title are drawn from a song dealing with matters of war, peace, and social change. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, including a number of stimulating interviews, Lieberman begins with the ups and downs of the peace movement during the depression years, when lingering memories of World War I propelled many college students to support pacifism. The Communist Party dropped this position with the outbreak of civil war in Spain in mid-decade and increasing fears of escalating fascism in Europe. Others on the left became increasingly suspicious of communists, however, particularly after the signing of the Nazi-Soviet peace pact in 1939 and the party's turn towards non-intervention as Germany launched World War II. Then, two years later, with the German invasion of the Soviet Union, soon followed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, pacifists were in short supply as the vast majority of Americans, particularly communists, became pro-war. Following the war, Lieberman makes a distinction between the Soviet Union's vocal struggle for peace and the U.S.'s preference for freedom, with the two goals increasingly clashing and diverging. Part of the early controversy centered on the use and future of the atom bomb, with perhaps international control, although the author does not explore this topic in depth. She does detail the Henry Wallace presidential campaign in 1948, on the Progressive Party ticket, which, for some, clarified the split between the Communist left and its supporters opting for negotiations versus the Truman administration's increasing emphasis on a Cold War confrontational style (which the Republican Party thoroughly supported). Anticommunism fueled the attack on Wallace and the peace movement, which fared poorly in the election, as communism and liberalism permanently parted company. The following year two events drove home the message. A peace conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, attracting a range of prominent individuals, faced a firestorm of criticism, as it coincided with the opening trials of the Communist Party leadership also in New York City - although the conference ended with eighteen thousand attending a rally at Madison Square Garden. Then, a few months later, a concert for peace and civil rights at Peekskill, New York, featuring Paul Robeson, became a battleground as thousands of concert-goers were viciously attacked by screaming patriots as they left the grounds. As the fifties dawned, Lieberman notes, peaceful coexistence became an extreme and isolated position, associated exclusively with the Communist Left. Pressure to accept the cold war consensus came from government agencies and private citizens alike. …

Why creators are dogmatic people, “nice” people are not creative, and creative people are not “nice”

This article presents a provocative perspective on creativity with two controversial assertions. First, it challenges the conventional view of the creator as an innovative person, by promoting the notion of the dogmatic creator. Second, it argues that “nice” people are not creative, and creative people are not “nice.” An integrative review of the empirical literature on culture, creativity, and conflict ensues. In the process, four sets of hypotheses are developed which are embedded in two theoretical models of behavior. In Theoretical Model A, it is postulated that cultural individualism-collectivism has a positive causal impact on independent self-construal (Hypothesis 1A). In turn, independent self-construal is posited to have a positive causal impact on positive perception of conflict (Hypothesis 2A), confrontational conflict style (Hypothesis 3A), and creative behavior (Hypothesis 4A). In Theoretical Model B, it is postulated that cultural individualism-collectivism has a negative causal impact on interdependent self-construal (Hypothesis 1B). In turn, interdependent self-construal was postulated to have a positive causal impact on negative perception of conflict (Hypothesis 2B), non-confrontational conflict style (Hypothesis 3B), and conforming behavior (Hypothesis 4B). One-hundred-eighty-six university students in Singapore and 158 students in Australia responded to a survey, which consisted of various scales tapping the constructs in these two theoretical models of behavior. SEM analyses using LISREL 8.0 provided empirical support for both models of behavior. Based on these findings, several points are raised. First, creativity should not be perceived in a naive manner. Second, there is an urgent need to assist parents, teachers, and employers to deal with creative individuals. Finally, since creativity is a cultural phenomenon, the cultural context must be made amenable for this type of behavior.

Angels "Rewolt!": Jewish Women in Modern Dance in the 1930s

In the late 1920s the modern dancer and choreographer Doris Humphrey noted that the "piles of Jewish girls" in her company "moved like angels." 1 Dancing in such works as Martha Graham's "Heretic" (1929) and Humphrey's "Life of the Bee" (1929), which dramatized Maurice Maeterlinck's 1901 study on the hierarchical authority of the queen bee and the pitiless duties of worker bees, Jewish women quickly put themselves in the middle of a dance revolution. Although the leaders of modern dance in the 1930s--Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Hanya Holm--were not Jewish, Jewish women filled modern dance classes, companies, organizations, picket lines, and concert audiences. Teachers, such as Blanche Talmud and Edith Segal, taught performers, such as Lily Mehlman and Lillian Shapero; performances by choreographers, such as Anna Sokolow and Sophie Maslow, were reviewed by critics, such as Edna Ocko; while organizers, such as Helen Tamiris and Fanya Geltman, hassled labor unions and the federal government for increased attention to dance. These efforts in substantiating a new art form have been overlooked because our view of the arts tends to focus on a few stars, emphasizing individual genius rather than collective momentum and organizational drive. Jewish women shaped the foundation of modern dance, and in the mid-1930s their impact was well enough known that the eminent social commentator Fanny Brice could unleash her satire on the subject, playing Martha Graham in a sketch entitled "Modernistic Moe," in which she cried "Rewolt!" in a Yiddish accent. 2 Modern dance attracted Jewish women because it sought to expose the serious expressiveness of body motion, distinguishing itself from the comic antics of vaudeville, showy kicks of Broadway chorus dancing, and ethereal fantasies of European-imported ballet. Like artists of other [End Page 233] genres in the era, modern dancers steeped themselves in the social, political, and aesthetic issues of the day, emboldened by the aim to make artworks responsive and relevant to everyday life. One way modern dancers did this was by constructing an American art form. Children of immigrants, Jewish women battled antisemitism and politicized dance at a time when Americans were particularly concerned with expressing ideals of social justice and national renewal in their art. 3 In this achievement they realized the goal of Mordecai Kaplan, who embraced American art and culture, including dance, as a means by which to explore and affirm Jewish identity and American citizenry. Believing that the diaspora was permanent for most Jews, Kaplan's Americanism rivaled his Judaism. 4 Disavowing the rigidity of the Orthodox tradition and the individualism of Reform, Kaplan advocated a variety of cultural activities rather than just religious rituals to create and strengthen communal bonds. His entreaty to rejuvenate American Judaism this way paralleled other calls to find "an American way" in art and politics in the midst of the fearful times of the Great Depression. In 1934 Kaplan elaborated his views with the publication of Judaism as a Civilization; that same year John Dewey and Ruth Benedict explored similar themes in Art as Experience and Patterns of Culture. These books emphasized the communal, ethical elements of American culture, a vision that modern dancers sought to put on stage. In their experimentation with movement, confrontational style, and passion for basics, American modern dancers played out in bodily form the experiential, pragmatic thrust of an American branch of philosophy. In their attempts to choreograph episodes in the American past, identify and incorporate indigenous American dance traditions, they sought to give dance in America wider social impact just as the burgeoning field of anthropology was doing for other societies. And in their active participation in a secular art form, Jewish modern dancers made modern dance a social [End Page 234] and cultural movement, creating new roles for themselves in American society. 5 To forge a larger ethnic cultural community, Kaplan embraced many different kinds of art because they were examples of secular activitities that...

Democracy for a bargain: the 1999 election in KwaZulu‐Natal

While the IFP/ANC race for first place in KwaZulu‐Natal was the closest of any in the country, the 1999 election was both freer and fairer than ever before, and the result was readily accepted by all parties. In short, the 1999 election further consolidated both the institutions and culture of liberal democracy. Importantly, this consolidation was predicated in an understanding reached between the IFP and ANC that, whatever the outcome of the election, they would co‐operate in government at both national level and in KwaZulu‐Natal. In so doing, the stakes of the election were lowered, making a free and fair election not just more affordable but also desirable so as to legitimate future governance. This deal is further confirmation of the trend in KwaZulu‐Natal politics away from the ethnically couched confrontational styles of the transition years towards a more ideologically inclusive and co‐operative politics. This trend, along with the basic patterns of party affiliation, suggest that KwaZulu‐Natal is no more unique politically than any other province in South Africa.

Avoidance and confrontation of painful, back-straining movements in chronic back pain patients.

Avoidance of painful activities has been proposed to be an important risk factor for the initiation and maintenance of chronic low back suffering, whereas exposure to these activities has been suggested to be beneficial for recovery. In a cross-sectional study, the differences between chronic patients with avoidant and confrontational styles were investigated using self-report measures and a behavioral test. Participants were first classified as avoiders or confronters. In comparison with confronters, avoiders reported greater frequency and duration of pain, higher fear of pain and injury, more disability in daily living, and more attention to back sensations. Finally, avoiders reported more fear of (re)injury during the behavioral test and had a worse performance than confronters. The results suggest a close link between the fear of pain/(re)injury on one hand and avoidance behavior and physical deconditioning on the other hand.

CULTURE AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This paper proposes a broad perspective for studying the influence of culture on the process of conflict management. Three models of conflict management are described, based on the culture framework of Glen (1981). In the confrontational model, conflicts are conceptualized as consisting of subissues, and a sense of reasonable compromise aids resolution despite a confrontational style. In the harmony model, conflict management starts with the minimization of conflict in organizations through norms stressing observance of mutual obligations and status orderings. Conflicts are defined in their totality, and resolution is aided by avoidance and an accommodative style. Less emphasis is placed on procedural justice, as on maintenance of face of self and others. Third parties are used extensively, and their role is more intrusive. In the regulative model, bureaucratic means are used extensively to minimize conflicts or to aid avoidance. Conflicts get defined in terms of general principles, and third party roles are formalized. The implications of the differences among the three models for conflict resolution across cultures and for future research are discussed.

Provoking arguments for provoking laughter: A case study of the candid camera TV show

This study presents an analysis of genuine cases of arguments which have originally been recorded for the purpose of provoking laughter. Although only three examples of arguments are presented here for illustration, the results of this investigation are based on a close examination of more than 50 cases of arguments. The data was studied and analyzed following Kochman (1981), Maynard (1985), Goffman (1967), and Brown and Levinson's (1987) concepts and theories on confrontational style and face threatening acts. The study has shown that there are a large number of devices and strategies that can be used for originating, conducting and developing arguments. These are, among others, negating, insisting, interrupting, questioning, etc. It has also been observed that there are a considerable number of nonverbal means that have a role to play in the process. It is argued in the light of these findings that nobody is immune to confrontation, particularly if one feels that his/her 'face' becomes a target for threatening and offending. Moreover, the study maintains that for a better understanding of arguments and conflict talk, the phenomenon should be handled in terms of both linguistic and extralinguistic factors, the effect of which appears to covary with the 'form' of the argument and its function' (cf also Emihovich 1986)

Crying, weeping or tearfulness in British and Israeli adults.

Participants (aged 20-42 years; N = 448) from Britain and Israel answered questions on their crying behaviour. They were more likely to cry alone than when with others and least likely to cry with people they did not know well. Women cried more often and for longer and with more intensity than men. Britons cried more than Israelis. Explanations in terms of differential inhibition were not supported. The sex difference was especially marked for situations involving criticism from others, anger, or problems with work, where men were particularly unlikely to cry, and least for those situations Darwin described as involving tender feelings. The pattern was related to differences documented elsewhere in which men tend to more active and confrontational styles of behaviour. British-Israeli differences were consistent with the effects of military service. Tearfulness for tender feelings increased with age in all groups. A principal component analysis distinguished crying that is intense, long lasting and difficult to stop from crying that is more diverse in appearance but more controllable. The distinction seems related to whether crying pre-empts or concurs with other ongoing activities.

Patients with chronic renal failure and their ability to cope.

The subject studied in this paper, describing uremic patients' use of coping strategies and their sense of coherence, was 48 consecutively selected patients with chronic renal failure at a Swedish hospital. The questionnaires used were the Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS-40) and the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC). The results showed that the patients used a variety of coping strategies, such as maintaining control, finding out more about the situation and hoping. In the use of coping styles, the confrontational style was the most favoured one, compared with the palliative and the emotive styles. There was a significant distinction between the predialysis patients and those on dialysis treatment concerning the use of strategies and coping styles. Patients on dialysis treatment showed significantly higher scores in overall strategies and in confrontational and palliative coping styles. The results revealed significant correlations between the JCS and the SOC scores, age and duration of kidney disease. Knowledge of the patients' commonly used coping strategies and sense of coherence is important when nursing care is being planned for the patient.

Politicians and decolonization of Hong Kong

This article discusses the nature of political leadership in Hong Kong in general and the dilemmas facing politicians in the process of decolonization in particular. The politicians are certainly not performing “public service” as in a colonial administration. They are competing for political power and control in the government during the transition of Hong Kong from a British colony to a Chinese Special Administrative Region. Some politicians adopt a mobilization style of leadership to draw public support; some maintain an elitist style to preserve the status quo; some use a confrontational style to push for a democratic government and to resist Chinese intervention in the internal affairs of Hong Kong; some take a cooperative and compromising approach in resolving conflicts and dealing with China; and some attempt to adopt a moderate style by emphasizing rational and workable solutions to political dilemmas. The dilemmas of transition include: (1) the choice between democracy and conservatism; (2) the proper relationship between Hong Kong and China after 1997; (3) the conflict as to whom the politicians represent: the Hong Kong people or the Chinese leaders. The choice of any two polarized positions in the dilemmas will result in devastating consequences for Hong Kong. The task of the politicians is therefore to balance, rather than to accentuate, the divergent tensions between the antagonistic political forces. In the final analysis, the politicians will have to play the role of balancer between the future sovereign master and various political actors.

Confrontational style in Spanish arguments: Pragmatics and teaching outlook

The study investigates the conversational style of arguing of three groups of language learners. Students in the first group, G1, were from a Hispanic background; those in the second group, G2, lived for a year in a Hispanic country, and those in the third group, G3, were in contact with the language only as part of their tertiary‐level education. Each group was composed of third‐ and fourth‐year university students, ranging in age from 21 to 25 years. They were asked to talk freely on ‘the role of men and women in society’. Their conversations were recorded and analysed following Garcia (1989), Kockman (1981), and Brown & Levinson's (1987) theories and ideas on confrontational style and face‐threatening acts. The linguistic choices of both Gl and G2 students revealed a similar argumentative style, which contrasted with the discourse style of G3. Examples of confrontational and non‐confrontational style are shown in order to explain the different linguistic forms that each group uses to accomplish this ev...