Arguments, Aggression, and Conflict: New Directions in Theory and Research

Arguments, Aggression, and Conflict provides a thorough examination of argumentative and aggressive communication. Editors Theodore A. Avtgis and Andrew S. Rancer bring together a score of prolific and informed authors to discuss aspects of the conceptualization and measurement of aggressive communication. The book features an exclusive focus on two "aggressive communication" traits: argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness, one of the most dominant areas of communication research over the last twenty five years both nationally and internationally. The chapters include cutting-edge issues in the field and present new ideas for future research.

This book is a valuable resource for instructors, researchers, scholars, theorists, and graduate students in communication studies and social psychology. Covering a variety of topics, from the broad-based (e.g. new directions in aggressive communication in the organizational context) to the more specific (e.g. verbal aggression in sports), this text presents a comprehensive compilation of essays on aggressive communication and conflict.

Theodore A. Avtgis (Ph.D., Kent State University) is Associate Professor of Communication at West Virginia University. He has co-authored four books, including Argumentative and Aggressive Communication with Andrew S. Rancer. He serves on the editorial boards of Argument and Advocacy, Communication Research Reports, Human Communication, and Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, among others. Among several awards, he was recognized as one of the Top Twelve Most Productive Researchers in the field of Communication Studies (between 1996 and 2001) and as a member of the World Council on Hellenes Abroad, USA Region of American Academics.

Andrew S. Rancer (Ph.D., Kent State University) is Professor of Communication at the University of Akron. He has published articles in Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Communication Education, Communication Quarterly, and Communication Research Reports, among others. He is co-author of four books, and he has served as editor of Communication Research Reports and the Massachusetts Communication Journal. Among several honors, he is the recipient of the Eastern Communication Association’s Past Presidents/Officers Award (1989) and Distinguished Research Fellow Award (1997) and was a member of ECA’s Committee of Scholars (1989-90).