Ever Been Stuck in an "I'm Right; You're Wrong" Conversation?

Gretchen Rubin

Bestselling author

You know the old joke? "The world is divided into two groups: people who divide the world into two groups, and people who don't." I'm definitely in the first category.

I love dividing people into categories:

Abstainers and moderators. Over-buyers and under-buyers. Alchemists and leopards.

Here's a new phenomenon I've tentatively identified: oppositional conversational style.

A person with oppositional conversational style is a person who, in conversation, disagrees with and corrects whatever you say. He or she may do this in a friendly way, or a belligerent way, but this person frames remarks in opposition to whatever you venture.

I noticed this for the first time in a conversation with a guy about social media. Before long, I realized that whatever I'd say, he'd disagree with me. If I said, "X is important," he'd say, "No, actually, Y is important." For two hours. And I could tell that if I'd said, "Y is important," he would've argued for X.

I saw this style again, in a chat with friend's wife who, no matter what casual remark I made, would disagree. "That sounds fun," I observed. "No, not at all," she answered. "That must have been really difficult," I said. "No, for someone like me, it's easy," she answered. Etc.

Since those conversations, I've noticed this phenomenon several times.

Here are my questions about oppositional conversational style:

Have you noticed this, too?

Is OCS a strategy that particular people use consistently? Or is there something about me, or about that particular conversation, that induced these people to use it?

Along those lines, is OCS a way to try to assert dominance, by correction? That's how it feels.

Do people who use OCS recognize this style of engagement in themselves?

Do they have any idea how tiresome it can be?

In the first example, my interlocutor used OCS in a very warm, engaging way. Perhaps, for him, it's a tactic to drive the conversation forward and to keep it interesting. This kind of debate did indeed throw up a lot of interesting insights and information. But it was wearing.

In the second example, the contradictory responses felt like a challenge.

I have a strong tendency towards belligerence—for instance, it's one reason I basically quit drinking—and I could easily fall into OCS. (I just hope I don't exhibit OCS already, which is quite possible.)

But I do recognize that to be on the receiving end of the oppositional conversational style—to have someone keep telling you that you're wrong, over and over—is not pleasant.

Even in my first example, when the OCS had a fun, friendly spirit, it took a lot of self-command for me to stay calm and un-defensive. Many points could have been made in a less "Let me set you straight" way.

And in the second example, I felt patronized. I was trying to make pleasant conversation, and she kept contradicting me. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes and retort, "Fine,whatever, actually I don't care if you had fun or not."

Now, I'm not arguing that everyone should agree all the time. Nope. I love a debate (and I was trained as a lawyer, which definitely made me more comfortable, perhaps too comfortable, with confrontation). But it's not much fun when every single statement in a casual conversation is met with,"Nope, you're wrong; I'm right." Skillful conversationalists can explore disagreements and make points in ways that feel constructive and positive, rather than combative or corrective.

What do you think? Do you recognize it in other people–or in yourself?

Edited by: Lawyer Asad