Testing the efficacy of a communication training program to increase argumentativeness and argumentative behavior in adolescents

Abstract

Argumentativeness has been associated with a number of positive outcomes including greater communicative competence, increased learning, greater social perspective‐taking, and higher self‐esteem. Recently, several programs have been offered for adult populations which have as their goal the enhancement of an individual's motivation and skill in argument. This paper reports on the development and testing of a program designed to enhance the motivation to argue and argumentative behavior of adolescent students. The first part of the paper reviews the modification of Infante's Inventional System (a system used to generate arguments) for the adolescent population. The second part of the paper describes the implementation of the training program and reviews the results of a study designed to determine whether the training positively influenced students' motivation and skill in argument. Two hundred thirty‐nine seventh grade students received the training. The results revealed that the training program significantly increased both the students' general tendency to argue, as well as their ability to generate arguments. Implications of the training and suggestions for further research with the adolescent population are offered.

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