A Discursive Approach to Young Adult Romantic Couples Use of Active Listening to Manage Conflict During Natural Everyday Conversations

ABSTRACT The present study uses a discursive psychological approach to examine naturally occurring bids at active listening as they arise spontaneously in the everyday interactions between young adult couples. To date, there is scant research examining in microanalytic detail how active listening works as it spontaneously emerges in everyday natural troubles-talk contexts between romantic partners. Five discursive methods for engaging in active listening are identified: 1) the use of psychological attributions, 2) judgmental questions, 3) subtle reframes, 4) story-topping, and 5) minimal recycles. The findings reveal that active listening is less about simply reflecting what one is hearing in neutral, open, and/or nonjudgmental ways, but is mostly about managing accountability, blame/attribution, identities, and perceived relational symmetries and asymmetries. The findings offer a new and exciting perspective for researchers interested in understanding how active listening spontaneously emerges and how couples use it in everyday natural relational contexts.