Under Construction @ Keele 2016 Volume 2 Issue 2 | Page 30

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destructive behaviours such as yelling or withdrawing from conflict impacted upon
relationship satisfaction and was significantly predictive of divorce.4 These particular studies
identify that communication behaviours are crucial in relationship satisfaction and ultimately
are predictive of long-term relationship outcomes.
Although conflict and marital satisfaction have been recurrently studied quantitatively,
there are a growing number of Conversation Analysis (CA) studies which reflect the detail of
conflict communication. A major focus of CA research relates to conversation closing, most
commonly through the two-stage closing model. Firstly, a pre-closing sequence takes place
in which a speaker’s turn must not encourage another turn or be interpreted as silence5. This
identifies that neither participant wishes to continue this conversation and is commonly seen
through exchanges such as ‘okay’.6 The second stage refers to terminal exchange whereby
participants ultimately close the conversation.7 Correct interpretation of this closing
sequence is vital as misinterpretation can lead to difficulties in the sequence of
communication and is one of many strategies regularly employed in order to appear polite8.
Therefore, within both everyday conversation and conflicts, the termination point is of great
importance to all parties.
However, this termination sequence can also be facilitated by a variety of techniques,
for example laughter. Laughing in unison is considered a specific activity and often facilitates
topic termination.9 A speaker’s initial laughter generally invites reciprocal laughter, and if a
recipient responds then it signals their alignment to terminating the conversation.10 When the
invitation is accepted, the shared laughter acts as the pre-closing and terminal exchange in
which both parties clearly signal they are both ready to end this topic. However, it is not
compulsory for a recipient to accept, and a rejection of this laughter invitation often coincides
with a serious response and negative escalation.11 Furthermore, whilst humour is
predominantly positive,12 if used inappropriately or misinterpreted as being aggressive, it has
considerable negative effects and leads to further difficulties in conversation.
Alternatively, closing sequences are often markedly different within conflicts.
Conflicts employ specific strategies which substitute the closing sequence and often lead to

4

Birditt et al, “Marital Conflict Behaviour and