Discourse, Conversation and Argumentation: Theoretical Perspectives and Innovative Empirical Studies, Volume IV

This Research Topic is the fourth volume of "Discourse, Conversation and Argumentation: Theoretical Perspectives and Innovative Empirical Studies". Please, see the first volume here, second volume here, and third volume here. As members of a social world within which interaction needs and communicative tools are intertwined in a series of situated relationships, interactions between individuals, but also between groups and between institutions, emerges from the beginning of life. Thinking about how we participate in an interaction, through verbal and non-verbal exchanges, allows us to focus on explicit and implicit norms, on personal and collective preferences, on subjective and interpersonal theories, and on social processes of construction of meaning that characterize the communicative interactions. Although discursive, conversational, and argumentative interactions play an essential role in our lives, there is no integrated area of psychological research on these types of communicative interactions. A wide variety of works is available concerning the focus on the different roles played by social actors within the interactions (symmetric-asymmetric, protagonist-antagonist, teacher-learner), as well as the interest for the constitutive aspects of the interactions (emotional, motivational, cognitive) or developmental factors (skills, competences, knowledge). However, research on discourse, conversation, and argumentation is conducted in a number of separate research communities that are spread across disciplines and have only limited intertwinement. It is necessary to create a space for open dialogue within the community of researchers interested in discourse, conversation, and argumentation from a psychological perspective. Intending to bridge these different strands, the aim of this Research Topic falls under two main goals: (1) to explore novel and promising theoretical perspectives to study discursive, conversational and argumentative interactions from a psychological perspective; (2) and to provide an extensive platform of the latest innovative research investigating discursive, conversational, and argumentative interactions between individuals, between groups, and between institutions to shed light on the most recent methodological developments to examining these types of interactions. As such, the Research Topic provides an ideal opportunity for researchers working in different international and psychological contexts to draw together their work within a common forum. This will provide state-of-the-art collective evidence of the breadth of psychological research on discourse, conversation, and argumentation as well as place emphasis on opportunities for mutual awareness and integration, which will have implications for international psychological research and theory on these issues. The Research Topic welcomes high-quality original research, reviews, commentaries, and perspectives on topics dealing with these issues. The collection is particularly interested in psychological perspectives on discursive, conversational, and argumentative interactions and in empirically supported approaches to analyze them.