Chapter 14: Dyadic Argumentation
ACTIVITY #14.1: ARGUMENTATIVENESS AND VERBAL AGGRESSIVENESS SCALES (To help
students recognize their own argumentative styles.) This is best done before the students read the chapter about dyadic
argumentation.
STEP 1: Have students complete the Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness Scales, which can be
found in Communication Research Measures edited by Rebecca B. Rubin, Philip Palmgreen, and Howard
E. Sypher.
ACTIVITY #14.2: SUPPORTIVE AND THREATENING COMMUNICATION. (To help students
recognize supportive and threatening communication behavior in arguments.)
STEP 1: Divide the class into dyads.
STEP 5: When all the skits are over, have the viewers identify the climates each dyad showed. As they do,
ask why they made the choices they did, so they explain the characteristics of each climate to
reinforce them. As you do this step each skit may be said to illustrate multiple climates. That can be
Instructions
You and your partner have 15 minutes to create and rehearse a skit of two people engaged in an
argument about a topic of your choice. (Please keep it tasteful and non-offensive to the rest of the class). Your
skit should primarily illustrate the communication style of superiority: a threatening communication style in
You and your partner have 15 minutes to create and rehearse a skit of two people engaged in an
argument about a topic of your choice. (Please keep it tasteful and non-offensive to the rest of the class). Your
skit should primarily illustrate the communication style of equality: a supportive communication style in which
You will present your skit to the rest of the class. When you do, you should tell us who the “characters”
are, their relationship to each other, and the context of their conversation. DO NOT tell us which
communication style you were given. Make your skit so each person has AT LEAST five lines of dialogue. The
temptation when doing something like this is to go for laughs. Please resist that temptation and make the skit
as realistic as you can.
You will present your skit to the rest of the class. When you do, you should tell us who the “characters”
are, their relationship to each other, and the context of their conversation. DO NOT tell us which
communication style you were given. Make your skit so each person has AT LEAST five lines of dialogue. The
You and your partner have 15 minutes to create and rehearse a skit of two people engaged in an argument
about a topic of your choice. (Please keep it tasteful and non-offensive to the rest of the class). Your skit
should primarily illustrate the communication style of provisionalism: a supportive communication style in
which the communicator operates from the assumption that he or she doesn’t know everything, is not always
You and your partner have 15 minutes to create and rehearse a skit of two people engaged in an argument
about a topic of your choice. (Please keep it tasteful and non-offensive to the rest of the class). Your skit
should primarily illustrate the communication style of description: a supportive communication style in which
the communicator describes situations or behaviors and how they affect him or her.
You will present your skit to the rest of the class. When you do, you should tell us who the “characters”
are, their relationship to each other, and the context of their conversation. DO NOT tell us which
communication style you were given. Make your skit so each person has AT LEAST five lines of dialogue. The
temptation when doing something like this is to go for laughs. Please resist that temptation and make the skit
as realistic as you can.
STEP 1: Choose or ask for volunteers so there are enough students to make up the pairs you want to use
for the activity. Have the students who are chosen leave the room as you talk to the rest of the
class, so they don’t adjust what they do to fit the directions.
STEP 3: Go to the students who left the room, and explain to them that they’ll engage in arguments as
pairs, and that you’ll give them their instructions when they’re brought into the room, one pair at
a time.
SCENARIOS
1A. You and the other person are two motorists who have just gotten into a traffic accident and you’re going
to argue about who is at fault. The accident happened when you both pulled out from a four way stop at the
As you engage in this argument, please try to argue as realistically as you can. Argue as if the subject
matters to you, and as if the relationship with the other person fits the situation described.
2A. You and the other person are two college roommates and you’re going to argue about responsibilities for
cleaning up after yourselves. You feel like you constantly have to clean up your roommate’s dishes so you can
3A. You and an acquaintance from a class are going to argue about whether or not President Clinton should
have been removed from office. You very strongly believe that what he did was serious enough that he should
be removed from office and you’re tired of hearing the lame defenses people make for him. The argument
4B. You and your teenage sibling are going to argue about who’s turn it is to wash the dishes. In your opinion,
your brother/sister is a genuine slacker who is always trying to get away with shirking his/her share of
responsibility, and it makes you angry that you get stuck with doing more than your share of the chores. The
argument begins when you tell your sibling to wash the dishes.
5b. You are a 17 year old and you are going to argue with your parent about independence issues. You believe
6b. You and your roommate are going to argue about whether or not to neuter your pet cat. You got the cat
together and you agreed at that time to make decisions regarding him together. At the time it never occurred to
7a. You and a friend are on a long car trip and are going to argue about where to stop to eat. You are strongly
opposed to patronizing any kind of a chain of restaurants in any way, and that includes stopping at one so
8a. You and an co-worker are about to argue about violence on television. You are a parent of impressionable
children and you believe violent movies have no place on television. You really think any reasonable person
would understand that they are dangerous for children. The argument begins when your co-worker asks if you
As you engage in this argument, please try to argue as realistically as you can. Argue as if the subject
matters to you, and as if the relationship with the other person fits the situation described
9b. You and your spouse are about to have an argument about your behavior. You drink a little beer and you
watch a little TV and your spouse keeps nagging you about it. You don’t see what the big deal is and you’re
tired of the accusations and you’ve decided to confront your spouse the next time she/he brings it up. The
10b. You and your spouse are about to have an argument about spending money. You manage the budget in
your household, and you feel you know when there is enough money to make a purchase and that the
household money is equally yours even though your spouse makes more money than you do. You’ve put an
11b. You and your spouse are about to have an argument about how to discipline your children. You don’t
think there’s anything wrong with a little physical punishment, but you’ve gone along with your spouses ideas
that any punishment is bad. Now it’s clear that hasn’t worked and the children are out of control. The
13a. You and your spouse are about to have an argument. Your spouse wants you to go to your in-laws for the
holidays, but you’re very uncomfortable there because you feel like they’ve never really accepted you. Besides,
their conversations are always about boring things so you can never have fun when you’re there. It makes you
14a. You and your roommate are about to have an argument. Your roommate keeps eating the food you buy,
doesn’t buy any himself, then tells you that you need to go shopping. It makes you angry that he/she is so
inconsiderate. The argument begins when your roommate tells you that you need to go shopping.
15b. You are a college student, and you are about to have an argument with your parent. Your parent thinks
you are wasting your money by attending a more expensive school but you think it is well worth the added
expense to go to a school that you want to be at. You’re angry that your parent considers money more
important than your happiness and well being. The argument begins when you mention how much it will cost
17a. You and your parent are about to have an argument. You are 17 years old and you want to pierce your
tongue, but your parents say you can’t. It makes you angry that she/he treats you like a little kid and won’t let
you do what you want with your own body. The argument begins when you tell your parent that you are going
to pierce your tongue.
18b. You and your roommate are about to have an argument. There seems to be a constant battle over the
temperature in your house. You want the thermostat set at 65 degrees because there’s no reason to set it higher
than that, but your roommate always turns it up to 70 degrees. It makes you angry that your roommate doesn’t
care more about conserving energy. The argument begins when you tell your roommate not to turn the
thermostat down again.
19b. You and your parent are about to have an argument. Your parent is always telling you to do things around
the house, and it doesn’t really matter if they’re done or not. It makes you angry that your parent doesn’t realize
21a. You and your romantic partner are about to have an argument. You were at a party and you saw him/her
flirting with someone else. That makes you angry because it’s disrespectful to you. You’ve decided to confront
him/her about it. The argument begins when you ask him/her why he/she was flirting with the other person.
As you engage in this argument, please try to argue as realistically as you can. Argue as if the subject
matters to you, and as if the relationship with the other person fits the situation described