The integration of different approaches to study the interpersonal dynamics of argumentation

Argumentation is an essential dimension of educational and professional activities because it is a relevant competence to deal with contradictions, doubts, and complex decisions. Moreover, argumentative practices can sustain or foster reasoning and learning in many different contexts. In this vein, argumentation is not intended as limited to a formal debate since it includes everyday interpersonal efforts to engage in discussions with others to co-construct knowledge and meaning and as a vehicle and site of interpersonal socialization. The tradition of philosophical and linguistic investigations about argumentation is awe-inspiring. However, the researchers have only recently been directed to studying interpersonal dynamics within argumentative interactions. Interpersonal argumentation refers to the individual, social, contextual, and cultural processes that contribute to understanding argumentative interactions as constructive exchanges (e.g., leading the co-construction of knowledge, meaning, and problem-solving). The special issue brings together a collection of papers that critically examine and extend the current psychological, linguistic, and educational literature on the crucial role of interpersonal dynamics within argumentative interactions. In particular, the contributions all share the assumption that argumentative interactions are socialization practices in which individuals evaluate, criticize, challenge, and revise claims through discourse in action. By adopting diverse theoretical frameworks and research approaches, the papers included in this special issue provide an accessible discussion of selected theoretical and empirical issues at the forefront of research, contributing to discovering the crucial importance of depth knowledge about the role and functions played by interpersonal dynamics within argumentative interactions.