I think it's mostly just us Americans that do that and not even all of us. But really, I think if someone is going to insult you personally just because you disagreed about something they weren't much of a friend to begin with. :/

Simply, the answer is NO, but to little extent, YES! In India, we people never affect our relationship even if we had some warm arguments. But as you might know, everything has an exception, and that applies here, too.

Hi Anthony: I can share this experience with you from my period as President of the Denver Chess Club. I saw two members playing a casual game at the end of the evening, after our "rated" game was over. There was a dispute over a move, These were 2 men who had been friendly for years. After that, they were not on friendly speaking terms. I heard stories from the earlier years about women persecuted with vandalism, because men do not like being beaten by women. I witnessed a player threatening to kill other players. Also, I can tell you that as a President of a Chess Club, Members take their competitive attitude Off---The---Board. Some people are nice; but many people would never support their elected President, no matter how much time, money, or effort he put into the club to help its growth. Chess Players may well be a demonstration of the very epitome of human selfishness. Otherwise in any population, people can end a friendly relationship over a simple remark. That can happen anywhere. .

This is more of a discussion than a question, but who cares..... let's go with it. Do you think that this is a particularly American phenomenon? If so, I wonder why? A big land of opportunities, freedom and social mobility? A place where it's easier than most to leave bad experiences behind, and 'move on'?

I am a native of the U.S. so of course everything here SEEMS normal to me. Nevertheless I am skeptical about this book. I distrust it. What is the title and author? Is this a serious sociological study, with hard evidence, or is this just someone expressing a personal opinion? In general, I distrust broad statements about entire countries and cultures.