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BARRIERS TO COOPERATIVE VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Destructive language can damage relationships

In the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning film No Country for Old Men (2007), Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh, a psychopathic hit man who enjoys making potential victims flip coins for their lives. Chigurh also savors elaborate and philosophical verbal banter: in one scene he queries fellow hit man Carson Wells (played by Woody Harrelson), “If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?” But more than anything else, Chigurh uses language for aggression. When a gas station owner innocently asks, “Ya’ll getting any rain up your way? I’ve seen you was from Dallas . . . ,” Chigurh responds with the chilling, “What business is it of yours where I’m from, friendo?” When the owner apologizes, Chigurh mocks his drawling accent, and then proceeds to insult him, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, do you?”

When used cooperatively, language can clarify understandings, build relationships, and bring us closer to others. But language also has the capacity to create divisions and damage relationships. Some people use verbal communication to defensively lash out at others, or intentionally deceive them. Others are filled with fear and anxiety about interacting and therefore do not speak at all. In No Country for Old Men, Anton Chigurh uses language as a weapon in his arsenal, aggressively challenging and taunting people. In this section, we explore the darker side of verbal communication by looking at four common barriers to cooperative verbal communication: communication apprehension, defensive communication, verbal aggression, and deception.