“I Thought We Settled This?!” Antecedents and Consequences of Resolution of an Initial Episode in a Serial Argument

"I THOUGHT WE SETTLED THIS?!" ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OR RESOLUTION OF AN INITIAL EPISODE IN A SERIAL ARGUMENT It is axiomatic that at some point in a relationship conflict will emerge. Indeed, people report that they experience conflict in a variety of their relationships (e.g., Argyle & Fumham, 1983). In some cases, they choose to withhold their complaints and thereby avoid an argument. However, in other cases, they confront their partners and an argument may occur. Research shows that relational partners often are unable to resolve their arguments in a single episode choosing instead to end the disagreement with a standoff, to let it fade away, or to withdraw (e.g., Benoit & Benoit, 1987; Lloyd, 1987; Vuchinich, 1987). The lack of resolution may turn into a pattern of serial arguing in which individuals continue to engage one another over the same issue, often with the goal of eventually reaching agreement (Bevan et al., 2007). Believing that a serial argument is resolvable is positively correlated with relational quality (Johnson & Roloff, 1998) and negatively related to experiencing mental and physical health problems associated with the argument (Bevan & Sparks, 2014; Malis & Roloff, 2006). Moreover, believing that a serial argument is resolvable is negatively related to a person's estimate that it will continue in future episodes (Carr, Schrodt, & Ledbetter, 2012). The aforementioned research suggests that it is beneficial to hold an optimistic view about the resolvability of a serial argument. However, this research does not address more fundamental questions. Do people sometimes believe that their serial argument was resolved only to see it return? If so, what factors produce such beliefs and what are the consequences of being wrong about conflict resolution? Indeed, we believe a number of factors promote an unduly optimistic belief that an argument is resolved when it is not. Our aims are to explicate the notion of conflict resolution, create a framework and hypotheses about the antecedents and consequences of believing a serial argument was resolved, and provide data testing our predictions. THE NATURE OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION In a sense, conflict resolution is a somewhat archaic term with current conflict researchers more often referring to conflict management. This trend might reflect the recognition that conflicts often are not resolved and instead are merely managed. It might also result from interest in the styles and strategies people use to manage conflict, some of which might result in conflict resolution. Regardless, we view conflict resolution as a belief that a disagreement has ended and will not repeat. This rather simple definition carries with it complexity. First, the degree to which a conflict is resolved may be assessed in several ways. One way is to directly ask participants if a conflict was resolved. Often individuals indicate in surveys, diaries, or interviews if an argument was resolved (e.g., Lloyd, 1990; McGinn, McFarland & Christianson, 2009; Mitnick, Heyman, Malik & Slep, 2009). However, our definition also specifies that individuals believe that an argument will not be repeated. With regard to serial arguments, by definition the disagreement was not resolved in the initial episode and has been repeated. Consequently, to gain further insight one might investigate the number of episodes that have occurred since the first one (e.g., Reznik & Roloff, 2011) or how frequently partners have argued about the issue (e.g., Lloyd, 1990). These measures provide an indication of the ongoing difficulty that partners have had resolving the argument. Second, our definition does not identify how a conflict was resolved. That means that the definition is agnostic with regard to the communication processes and the type of agreement that prompts individuals to believe that an argument has been resolved. During episodes of serial arguing, individuals may engage in a variety of destructive (e. …