Conversation Ritual Essay

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There are many different ways in which we bond with those around us. Conversational rituals are one of the ways by which we connect to our speaking partners, and whose meaning or objective is not what it initially appears to be. These rituals “exhibit the capacity to perform and accomplish things beyond their intended purposes,” and can serve to bring us either closer or further apart from our speaking partner, depending on what they perceive the social dynamic to be (Koschmann, M., & McDonald, J.). Ritual complaining is one of those recurring patterns by which we try to connect to others. It allows people the opportunity to bond over a shared dislike, and plays into the idea of “do as I do,” as mentioned by Tannen in her book That’s Not What I Meant!: How Conversational Style Makes or Break Relationships (1987). This means that we expect others to mirror our feelings, and if they violate this principle, we feel threatened. I experience this ritual complaining nearly every day, but one instance that stands out to me was when I ran cross-country in high-school. My use of ritual complaining was to express my pain and dislike of …show more content…

It allows us the ability to “reestablish equilibrium in ongoing social relations,” and when someone breaks this conventionalized norm, it is likely to cause the interaction to be considered unpleasant (Koschmann, M., & McDonald, J.). With this principle, we expect those around us to match what we have said with something that reaffirms our needs within that moment. If your conversational partner does not pick up on the metamessages behind this principle, then you are left with a feeling of isolation. This ties in with ritualized complaining in the sense that the other person is not sharing your concerns about the same situation, and in turn they threaten your perception of the world or specific situation in

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