Defensive Listening Vs. Argumentative Communication

My parents as well as my siblings have different ways of responding to conflict. My mother as well as my younger sisters respond to conflict by using defensive listening and argumentative communication. As stated in chapter 6, "defensive listening involves perceiving a personal attack, criticism, or hostile undertone in communication when none is intended" (Wood 122). This often leads to the conflict not being resolved and misunderstanding between others in the household. On the other hand, my brother and my dad handle conflict through silence. Silence is "a lack of communicated sound" (Wood 105). To an extent I think I have a mixture of using silence as well as defensive listen and argumentative communication. When a conflict comes into play, I become very defensive. I always want to get my point across and have to have the last say. This is a learned behavior I observed from my mother. The issue is not dismissed until she has had the last day in everything. I think that members of our family have a bigger impact on how we resolve conflict because they are initially the ones we experience our first conflicts with.

They would also go as far as spreading rumors or just wanting to confront the pemeson with intentions on hurting them. This was somewhat similar to how members of my family resolved conflict because they both used defensiveness and argumentation. Neither tried to find ways to come to an understanding or mutual agreement. This hasn't had a great deal of affect on how I resolve conflict. Although, I have become more so aggressive when it comes to conflict because, from what I've seen, the more aggressive you become the more respect you tend to get. This sometimes results in less conflict from