Twenty pairs of students role-played a situation in which one friend discovered the other making harmful comments about him to a third party. When completed, the same scene was role-played again but with role assignments reversed. Interaction was analysed by means of ratings of altercasting patterns. Significant correlations between assigned role and dimensions of altercasting were found. It was also possible to identify significant components of interpersonal style across roles. Correlations between members of the dyad showed high complementarity in altercasting patterns. Interpersonal tension was resolved chiefly by the re-establishment of exchange of assistance from offender to offended.