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EXPLORING PARTICULARITIES OF COMMUNICATION STYLES AND COUPLE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Melania Macovei

Abstract

Communication is a key element in all the interactions of a couple. In addition to conversation and dialogue, the intrinsic laws of real communication reveal similar or opposite personality structures, show reciprocity in some acceptances, decisions, trust in the partner’s capacities, but also dysfunctional interventions, disproportionate expectations and motivations, in certain couples or families. In a couple or a family in its entirety, communication can complicate interaction, due to the communication style differences. The present study is designed to analyze various communication styles and conflict management strategies, starting from certain particularities of the couple. The research was conducted on 158 male and female subjects, aged between 18 and 70 years old. Almost 60% of the subjects were involved in a relationship for at least 5 years. To research the strategies applied to manage couple conflicts, a questionnaire designed by Guerrero, Andersen and Afifi (2014) has been applied. In addition, the author developed a questionnaire to assess the communication style. The metric qualities of the research tools are discussed. The study revealed that most of the subjects are characterized by an assertive communication style and adopt collaborative strategies to manage couple conflicts. The particularities of these strategies are described and discussed in the subsequent sections of the paper.

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