Daniel J. Canary

Brian H. Spitzberg

William R. Cupach

Extensively updated with expanded and newly added chapters, the second edition of Competence in Interpersonal Conflict continues to present a conceptual framework for why communication competence is central to conflict management. Although no checklist of communication behaviors can guarantee success, the authors offer constructive guidelines that provide a basis for grappling with future conflicts in five unique settings: intercultural, organizational, familial, mediation, and violence in intimate relationships. Within any conflict interaction adept communicators embrace the notion that adopting an ethical stance is both desirable and practical. Conflict between people is a natural feature of the human condition; when people interact and form relationships, conflicts inevitably emerge. How individuals manage conflict, and how they perceive both the opportunities and challenges it provides, will define their interpersonal relationships in more ways than any other kind of interaction behavior. Collaboration and adaptation are the hallmarks of a competent communicator, therefore how partners communicate during conflict can be more important than the frequency of their disagreements.

Second Edition

Competence in Interpersonal Conflict

Sandra Lakey

Strategic Conflict offers a research-based, accessible analysis of how people can manage conflict productively. Moving beyond the basics of conflict, it examines interpersonal situations in which conflict occurs and promotes strategic communicative responses based on the latest theoretical research. Daniel J. Canary and his colleagues add personal observations, media examples, and samples of actual interaction to provide concrete illustrations of the research findings. This comprehensive volume provides students with the tools to understand conflict in real-world contexts.

Strategic Conflict

Susan Messman

Conflict is a natural, even inevitable, aspect of most ongoing close relationships - a given. What distinguishes most successful relationships from unsuccessful ones is not the absence of conflict, but how conflict is managed. Relationship Conflict skillfully portrays the different types of conflict that we encounter in our most significant personal relationships: parent-child, friendship, and romantic relationships. The authors capture the essence of current research and theory to shed light on conflict's role in human interaction. Drawing from the findings of multiple disciplines, this volume takes a developmental development look at childhood friendships through to dating and married relationships. The results result is a richer understanding of interpersonal involvement accessible to close relationship researchers and professionals and students in many service-based fields.

Conflict in Parent-Child, Friendship, and Romantic Relationships

Relationship Conflict

Tara M. Emmers-Sommer

Sandra Faulkner

Challenging a commonly held assumption that men and women hail from different psychological and social "planets," this illuminating work reexamines what the empirical research really shows about how the sexes communicate in close relationships. The volume demonstrates that stereotypical beliefs about men and women fail to predict their actual interaction behavior, and highlights evidence of similarities - as well as differences - between the two groups. Setting forth an integrative theory of gender differences, the authors propose that communication behavior in different activities is the means by which sex and gender role expectations are created and sustained. This volume is suitable for students, scholars, and researchers in communication, social psychology, marriage and family studies, and gender studies as well as clinicians working with individuals, couples, and families.

Sex and Gender Differences in Personal Relationships

Kathryn Dindia

Sex Differences and Similarities in Communication offers a thorough exploration of sex differences in how men and women communicate, set within the context of sex similarities, offering a balanced examination of the topic. The contents of this distinctive volume frame the conversation regarding the extent to which sex differences are found in social behavior, and emphasize different theoretical perspectives on the topic. Chapter contributors examine how sex differences and similarities can be seen in various verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors across contexts, and focus on communication behavior in romantic relationships. The work included here represents recent research on the topic across various disciplines, including communication, social psychology, sociology, linguistics, and organizational behavior, by scholars well-known for their work in this area. In this second edition, some chapters present new perspectives on sex/gender and communication; others present substantially revised versions of earlier chapters. All chapters have a stronger theoretical orientation and are based on a wider range of empirical data than those in the first edition. Readers in communication, social psychology, relationships, and related fields will find much of interest in this second edition. The volume will serve as a text for students in advanced coursework as well as a reference for practitioners interested in research-based conclusions regarding sex differences in communicative behavior.

Daniel J. Canary

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