Explaining Conversations: A Developmental Social Exchange Theory

Explaining Conversations offers a different way of interpreting peoples social exchanges than has been available in the past. The book is replete with examples of peoples verbal interactions in the form of chats, arguments, debates, and negotiations, both within a culture and across cultures. The volumes subtitle, A Developmental Social-Exchange Theory, identifies a theme featured in Chapters 2 and 5the typical pattern by which social-exchange skills evolve over the first two decades of life. Throughout the book, the underlying meanings of conversations are interpreted in terms of (a) the needs people seek to fulfill through their conversations, (b) the influence of a persons culture on what is said, (c) individuals patterns of thought (metacognition) during a conversation, (d) how peoples expectations about a conversation affect what they will say, and (e) strategies individuals adopt to achieve their goals. The book includes a chapter designed to guide parents and teachers in promoting young childrens and adolescents social-exchange skills.   See more