A Study On Conflicting Response Strategies In The Big Bang Theory From The Perspective Of Rapport Management Theory

Conflict talk is an inevitable linguistic phenomenon in interpersonal communication,denoting the verbal confrontation or argument between two parties because of their different positions and opinions.In general,conflict talk occurs mainly in daily interactions between family members,teachers and students,and doctors and patients,while research on conflict talk between friends is rare.Regarding conflicting response strategies,research has mainly focused on mitigating response strategies,while less research has been conducted on the general conflicting response strategies,including direct conflicting response strategies and indirect conflicting response strategies.Based on Spencer-Oatey’s rapport management theory,taking the general conflicting response strategies as its subject of research,this research applies a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis to investigate the conflicting response strategies between friends in seasons 4-6 of the American drama series The Big Bang Theory,aiming to answer three questions(1)In The Big Bang Theory what are the conflicting response strategies? What is the distribution and proportion?(2)What are the pragmatic motives for choosing conflicting response strategies?(3)How effective are different conflicting response strategies in achieving rapport management?First,162 conflict clips from a total of 72 episodes of seasons 4-6 of The Big Bang Theory are identified and selected.It is found that 11 conflicting response strategies emerged.7 types of direct response strategies include explicit refusal,threat,refutation,verbal provocation,complaint,rebuke,and order,and 4 types of indirect conflicting response strategies are irony,rhetorical question,indirect refusal,and obedience.Second,there are five reasons and motives for the choice of conflicting response strategies: maintaining face,upholding power,holding onto opinions,expressing emotions,and achieving goals.Finally,the rapport management achieved by conflicting response strategy in The Big Bang Theory is not effective.Rapport neglect and challenge caused is far more than rapport enhancement and maintenance,which corresponds with negative and positive effects.The positive effects are manifested in the elimination of conflicts and consensus building as well as in the release of emotions and the enhancement of understanding,thus improving or consolidating interpersonal relationships,while the negative effects are manifested in face-threatening and image damage as well as in the intensification of conflicts,and deterioration in relationships.This study focuses on the conflict talks between friends and provides a perspective for comprehensively understanding the conflict talks and conflicting response strategies between friends,and to a certain extent enriches the research of conflict talks.At the same time,it’s hoped that both the negative and positive impact of conflicting response strategies on interpersonal relationships could help deepen people’s understanding of conflict talk in interaction,and inspire friends to adopt appropriate strategies to relieve conflicts,thereby promoting the construction of friendship and harmonious interpersonal relationships.