<p> This narrative inquiry sought to determine whether the strategic use of positive imagined interactions (IIs), or the conversations one has in their mind, could enhance cross-cutting political conflict while also testing the seventh theorem of II conflict linkage theory which states, “In order to enhance constructive conflict, individuals need to imagine positive interactions and outcomes” (Honeycutt, 2003a, p. 6). Undergraduate student participants were assigned to one of three conditions (positive II, negative II, or control) and engaged in a three-phase procedure. Phase one, pre-interaction, prompted the participants to engage in an II, and then reflect on their IIs by answering open-ended questions. During phase two, interaction, participants engaged in an actual, cross-cutting conversation about the political topic of their choice with a trained confederate. During the final stage, post-interaction, participants completed a second questionnaire to assess the constructiveness or destructiveness of their interaction. A thematic analysis revealed that 40 out of 45 total participants, regardless of their pre-assigned condition, engaged in a positive, constructive conflict with their conversation partner. The results also indicate that positive IIs aid in perspective-taking while negative IIs satisfy individuals by allowing them to mentally defend their beliefs. While the results neither confirm nor disprove Theorem 7 of II conflict linkage theory, they do support Theorem 3 which explains that negative intrusive IIs often occur when a person purposely attempts to have a positive II. </p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10980987 |
| Date | 12 April 2019 |
| Creators | Covington, Emily N. |
| Publisher | University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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