Anger during a protest by David Shankbone

A shouting match is an

argument An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...

or debate characterized by the loud volume or intensity of the participants.

Parliamentary procedures

Large assemblies may easily degenerate into shouting matches as the participants raise their voices just in order to be heard. To control this tendency towards chaos, rules of conduct such as

Robert's Rules ''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert. "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which ...

are often used.

Productive confrontation

Some assemblies may choose this form of discourse deliberately so that creative contributions are not stifled by formal rules. The Bourbaki working parties to establish a definitive new reference work for

mathematic Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

s were conducted in this way, being described as “''Two or three monologues shouted at top voice, seemingly independently of one another''” by Armand Borel, who attributed the success of this process to the commitment and hard work of the members. At the General Electric company, the successful chief executive, Jack Welch, forced his managers to justify their positions by intensive argument that often became shouting matches. The result was to make the management confront reality and motivate them to make their proposals work.

In commerce

Shouting matches should be avoided in commercial interactions between customers and suppliers because they tend to poison relations between the parties and so reduce the possibility of a productive deal. Training and role-playing may be used to develop the emotional intelligence required to handle such situations effectively. In public situations such as a nightclub or bar, staff that get into shouting matches with patrons look badly unprofessional. If they instead ignore the insults, the intoxicated customers will get frustrated and leave.

Online

Online communication in internet forums commonly takes the form of a shouting match, sometimes using ALL CAPS to denote shouting. This is due to the anonymity which reduces the possibility of sanction for intemperate speech. So, rather than a listening and rational exchange, the format fosters rage and aggression which results in extreme opinions and insults.

As social ritual

The Yanomamo people of the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

are known as ''The Fierce People''. When two tribes meet for a feast, their chiefs start by engaging in a ritualised shouting match in which they ostensibly engage in fierce conflict but, by their rhythmic interaction, establish a satisfying bond.

References