Title: Social Psychology Lecture 4
1Social PsychologyLecture 4
- Social Psychology of Language
- Jane Clarbour
- (Spring 2003)
2Overview
- Content
- Theory of equivocation
- Avoidance-avoidance conflict
- Ratings of equivocation
- Threats to face
- Style
- Speech accommodation theory
- Accent convergence and divergence
- Postural congruence
- Function
- Discourse analysis
- Discursive action model
- Accountability
3Objectives
- Give an account of Bavelas et al.s theory of
equivocation - Give an account of Speech Accommodation Theory
using empirical examples of accent convergence
and divergence - Demonstrate an understanding of what is meant by
discourse analysis - Give an account of what is meant by stake,
interest, and accountability - Discuss an example of a study based on discourse
analysis
4The content of speech
- Equivocation (Bavelas et al., 1990)
- Avoidance-avoidance conflict
- Types of replies
- Ratings of equivocation
- Equivocation theory
- Threats to face
5Equivocation (Bavelas et al. 1990)
- Circumstances in which people avoid replying to
questions - Avoidance-avoidance conflict
- Telling truth bad
- Telling lie bad
-
6Avoidance-avoidance replies
- Bavelas (1990) identified three types of
equivocal, avoidance-avoidance answer - Subtle change responses
- Deferred replies
- Hints
73 types of equivocal reply
- 1. Subtle change response
- Changes in speech content from
- you were TO it was
- 2. Deferred replies
- Answers obliquely
- Changes the topic
- Indirect responses
- Hints
8Equivocation theory
- Communicative responses are dimensional
- Responses including avoidance-avoidance conflicts
are more equivocal - Direct avoidance-responses avoidance
replies
9Situational determinants
- Change of approach from the personality of the
equivocator to that of the situation - The political interview (VIDEO)
10As you watch the video
- Identify 3 principal types of threats to face
responsible for avoidance-avoidance conflict - Threats to the individual politician
- Threats to the party he/she represents
- Threats to significant others (political allies)
11Self-presentation (Bull et al. 1996)
- Threats to face create avoidance-avoidance
conflicts - Politicians avoid responses that make them look
bad. - If a question is posed that makes a politician,
colleague, or the party look bad avoid reply - If a question does not pose a threat to face
reply.
12Evaluation of equivocation theory
- 3 main criticisms
- Lack of theoretical basis
- Causes rather than effects
- Implicit vs non-replies
- Implicit replies as highly skilled social skill
13Speech styles
- Speech Accommodation theory
- Studies of accent convergence
- Studies of accent divergence
14Speech Accommodation Theory
- Based on BYRNEs (1969) similarity-attraction
theory - The more similar are our attitudes and beliefs to
another, the more likely it is that we will be
attracted to them - Speech is accommodated in order to reduce
dissimilarities
15Studies of accent
- Accent divergence
- To disassociate from the listener the speaker may
emphasise pronunciation dissimilarities - Accent convergence
- To gain anothers approval, the speaker may
reduce pronunciation dissimilarities - Upward accent convergence
- Downward accent convergence
16Studies of accent convergence
- COUPLAND (1984)
- Observed accent convergence in a travel agency.
- Number of hs sounded by assistant varied from
3.7 to 29.3 - Significantly correlated with the proportion
sounded by her clients
17Accent divergence (Bourhis Giles, 1977)
- Welsh students on Welsh language course
- Ss asked to take part in a survey concerned with
2nd language learning techniques. - Ss listened to questions posed by very English
sounding tutor who at one point asked - Responses showed extreme accent divergence
following this attack - Broadened their Welsh accent
- Introduction of Welsh words and phrases
- 1 Ss was silent then produced Welsh expletive
into the microphone!
Why on earth do you want to study a dying
language with a dismal future?
18Experimental manipulation of convergence
levelsGiles Smith (1979)
- A Canadian male speaker prepared a series of
tapes describing the educational system in
Ontario for English speakers - The speaker accommodated in terms of 3 levels of
speech convergence - Message content
- Pronunciation
- Speech rate
- The tapes were rated by a group of teachers in
England
19Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles et al.
1987)
- Nonverbal communication
- The concept of speech accommodation has been
broadened out to include non-verbal communication - Postural congruence SCHEFLEN (1964)
- People accommodate towards each others posture
- Similarity of posture may signal similarity of
views or roles in a group - Non-congruence of posture may indicate marked
divergence in attitude or status
20Discourse analysis
- How people perceive and interpret social
interaction (especially communication). - But emphasis not simply on how individuals
construct reality based upon interpretation of
situations - Instead, a pragmatic consideration of the entire
whole.
21Discourse as a social construction
- All language is considered by the discourse
analyst as constructed - To make sense of experience
- A production of an account in relation to
something/someone - To convey an idea
- To justify action
- To impart blame
- It is not necessary for the account to be
consciously constructed or seen as true/untrue - A description of something to a friend or parent
may differ placing different emphasis in each
construction - (Potter Wetherell, 1987)
22Discursive Action Model (Edwards Potter, 1993)
- 3 major principles of discourse
- Action
- Fact and Interest
- Accountability
23Discursive Action Model (Edwards Potter, 1993)
- ACTION
- Focus on action, not cognition
- Attributions are discursive actions
- Attributions occur in activity sequences
- They involve interpersonal issues
- Attributions are elements in social activities
24Discursive Action Model (Edwards Potter, 1993)
- 2. FACT and INTEREST
- Analysis of interest or motivation in the action
sequence - Statements of factual accounts
- Truth portrayed through direct perception of
account (e.g I saw it)
25Discursive Action Model
- ACCOUNTABILITY
- Analysis of who/what originally caused the event
- Who is accountable for its occurrence?
- How accountable is the current person in the
event? - How accountable is the reporter of the event?
26Discursive Action Model
- Stake or Interest - how does the speaker
construct an account without appearing partisan
or biased - Accountability - Depending upon the function of
the talk, speakers may emphasise or de-emphasis
both their own accountability and the
accountability of the other person - for actions
- for accuracy
- for the interactional consequences of those
accounts - to claim (or disclaim) credit
27Example of discourse analysis (Beatie Doherty,
1995)
- Eyewitness accounts (protestant) of an
assassination assassination attempts in
N.Ireland. - John Jean own a video shop in
N.Belfast. The Irish Provisional Liberation Org.
attempted to murder Jean in Oct 91, and in Feb
92 they returned and murdered her 16-yr-old
assistant, William.
28Jeans construction of the attempted murder
(Beatie Doherty, 1995)
- Jean recalls the attempted murder
- (Car pulls up in front of her)
- a) Going to say hello?
- Simply a bad driver?
- Jean establishes herself as a credible witness
- Vivid recall of events
- JEAN IS DE-EMPHASISING HER STAKE OR INTEREST
29Agency and the passive voice(Henley et al., 1995)
- Active voice
- In the U.S. a man rapes a woman every 6 minutes
- Passive voice
- In the U.S. a woman is raped by a man every 6
minutes
30Construction of situated identities (Abell
Stokoe, 2001)
- VIDEO Interview between HRH Diana, Princess of
Wales and Martin Bashir (20th Nov. 1995). - Look for
- common-sense explanations
- development of tension between true self and
royal role - Royal family as a social construction.
31Summary
- Theories of communication have largely developed
in isolation to each other - Equivocation theory
- Focus on the content of speech
- Threats to face create avoidance-avoidance
conflicts - Avoidance-avoidance conflicts are situationally
derived - Accommodation theory
- Focus on communicative style
- Discourse analysis
- Focus on the communicative function
- Verb voice changes the semantics of the
communication (active-passive)
32Conclusions
- Equivocation
- considered as a special form of accommodation as
people equivocate in order not to diverge too
sharply from their listeners - Discourse analysts would question why
- Discourse analysis (DA)
- is a philosophical and ideological approach to
social understanding based upon an analysis of
the function of words. - DA considers social interaction to be motivated,
goal driven and socially constructed
33What next..
- Practical 2 (Assessed)
- Quantitative analysis of communication
- Lecture 5 Non Verbal Communicaiton Facial
Expressions of Emotion
34Further Reading
- Abell Stokoe (2001)
- Social construction as communicative rhetoric
- Beattie Doherty (1995)
- Discursive construction of victims and
perpetators in Northern Ireland - Giles et al. (1987)
- Speech accommodation theory the first decade and
beyond - Henley et al. (1995)
- Syntax, semantics, and sexual violence agency
and the passive voice