Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 203
Challenge the claim, not the person
Identify a self-reported predisposition toward self-concept attack while letting observed conduct determine what actually happened
Premise
Rigorous disagreement targets a claim, assumption, method, or decision. Verbal aggression targets another person’s intelligence, character, competence, background, or worth. Dominic A. Infante and Charles J. D. Wigley III built the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale to measure a self-reported predisposition toward that second form of communication.
The executive value lies in preserving the target of attack. Treating argument and verbal aggression as the same phenomenon can suppress useful dissent; calling both “candor” can normalize personal harm. The instrument can identify a reported risk pattern, but it cannot replace direct evidence of conduct or establish why a person communicated that way.
What the model is: Verbal Aggressiveness Scale in Knowledge →
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- FamilyTool
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What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Tool
In this series, Tool names the editorial family primarily used to act on, examine, measure or organize communication. It includes instruments, methods, practices, protocols, codes and institutional arrangements. Membership does not certify effectiveness, portability or safe use in every setting.
Editorial orientation · Category
Measurement & Assessment Instruments
Produces measures, scores, profiles or assessments through defined items, observations or measurement rules. The entry identifies what is measured and the conditions governing interpretation.