| Observational differences confirm discrepancies between the U.S. and Spain in everyday talk, with Spaniards engaging in more everyday talk than their U.S. counterparts. Given the importance of everyday talk for contemporary democracies, I consider a set of advancement and avoidance behaviors that can typically take place when an individual is exposed to a conversation in which someone in his or her communicative network disagrees with him/her.;In studying the possible sources of differences in cross-national everyday talk, three factors are considered: The objectivity in news media, particularly the standard of fairness, which I modify and sharpen advancing the notion of internal balance (with partisan versus balanced news as a result); individuals' communicative networks, in particular, close friends, fellow students, and online-only buddies; and country, with the cases of the U.S. and Spain.;The results advanced here open a new area of research in which comparative endeavors are critical. Moreover, they also continue contributing on the emerging literature that considers the media by its micro parts, in this case, the standard of fairness, and how they can affect discussion behaviors. Considering tie strength in relationship to advancement and avoidance behaviors is also underscored, as is the need to consider different advance and avoidance behaviors on their own right, and not as a continuum. |
