Attributional conflict is identified as arising from disparate attributions by two or more parties concerning the cause of events. It is proposed that such conflict is primarily managed through the exercise of verbal strategies which attempt to lessen blame and/or increase praise by shifting responsibility assignment. A taxonomy of these verbal strategies, which include association, requests, accounts, excuses, rationales, and justifications, is provided. Some conditions under which particular verbal strategies are likely to be used, and some factors that might affect their successfulness are suggested.