Trait, State, and Interactionist Approaches to Studying Argumentative and Aggressive Communication

In Chapter 1 we defined the term communication trait as a hypothetical construct that accounts for the way individuals behave when they are involved in communication-related activity. We presented the position, advanced by McCroskey et al. (1998), that “individual traits are a major force, if not the dominant explanation, for why people communicate the way they do” (p. vii). In Chapter 1 we also provided definitions of argumentativeness, a subset of the more global trait of assertiveness, and verbal aggressiveness, a subset of the more global trait of hostility. In this chapter we will review how personality and communication scholars perceive the influence of ...