When problematic interactions recur: Dilemmas of telling and accountability in tendency stories

Authors

• Melisa Stevanovic Tampere university
• Henri Nevalainen Tampere university
• Minna Leinonen Tampere university
• Annika Valtonen Tampere university
• Elina Weiste Finnish Institute of Occupational Health

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23997/pk.146486

Keywords:

conversation analysis, instantiation stories, problematic interactions, reported speech, tendency stories

Abstract

Many problematic interactions tend to recur. In this article, we use conversation analysis as a method
to investigate situations in which a person tells another party about their experiences of problematic
interactions. We examine the tellers’ ways of describing the details of interaction, such as word choices
and prosody, paying particular attention to the recipients’ ways of responding to the telling. The analysis
shows how in mundane storytelling the teller may describe repeated instances of interaction in much
detail without being held accountable for the recurrence of these precise details. However, the situation
is different in workplace performance appraisal discussions, where the teller may be held accountable
for such implicit claims. Focus on detail can also lead the recipient to interpret the telling in the framework
of mundane sharing, which not only undermines the intervention-relevance of the problem but also
circumvents the question about its repetitive nature. The results offer one explanation for why many
problematic interactions can persist without anyone addressing them and why the severity of these
problems is often undermined.