The third dimension of rapport management are speakers’ interactional goals.
In an encounter, speakers will decide whether they prefer to:
- Maintain rapport: Rapport with interlocutors is equally important to the task; speakers use strategies that aim to maintain the current level of rapport (e.g. mitigating and hedging strategies, general politeness strategies).
- Enhance rapport: Rapport with interlocutors is extremely important, at times more than the task at hand; speakers use strategies to actively enhance that rapport (e.g. accepting interlocutors’ needs and wants, showing one’s good will, etc.).
- Neglect rapport: Rapport with interlocutors is less important than the task; interlocutors use hardly any strategies that maintain rapport (e.g. negotiating tactics are used that do not acknowledge the partners’ position at all, few or no politeness strategies are used).
- Challenge rapport: Rapport with interlocutors is not important; interlocutors use strategies which challenge that rapport (e.g. strategies that are likely to be perceived as impolite, rude, sarcastic or offensive).