Expressions of disagreement by Venezuelans in conversation: reconsidering the influence of culture

The present exploratory study sought to complement the findings of previous research on the expression of disagreement among Venezuelan females by considering disagreement in the context of casual conversation. Although confrontational disagreements predominated among the 10 Venezuelan participants, there was a considerably large number of expressions of non-confrontational disagreement. These findings suggest that generalizations about politeness orientation and conversational style that attribute differences primarily, or exclusively, to cultural distinctions must be reconsidered. Other factors, such as professional training or personality, may also shape one's conversational style. Future research based on elicited and natural data, as well as studies conducted in different contexts, are essential to providing a more complete picture of the ways in which disagreement is expressed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.