Social Psychology Lecture 4

1. Social PsychologyLecture 4 Social Psychology of Language Jane Clarbour (Spring 2003)

2. Overview • 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

3. Objectives • 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

4. The content of speech • Equivocation (Bavelas et al., 1990) • Avoidance-avoidance conflict • Types of replies • Ratings of equivocation • Equivocation theory • Threats to face

5. Equivocation (Bavelas et al. 1990) • Circumstances in which people avoid replying to questions • Avoidance-avoidance conflict • Telling truth = bad • Telling lie = bad

6. Avoidance-avoidance replies • Bavelas (1990) identified three types of equivocal, avoidance-avoidance answer: • Subtle change responses • Deferred replies • Hints

7. 3 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

8. Equivocation theory • Communicative responses are dimensional • Responses including avoidance-avoidance conflicts are more equivocal Direct avoidance-responses avoidance replies

9. Situational determinants • Change of approach from the personality of the equivocator to that of the situation • The political interview (VIDEO)

10. As 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)

11. Self-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.

12. Evaluation 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

13. Speech styles • Speech Accommodation theory • Studies of accent convergence • Studies of accent divergence

14. Speech Accommodation Theory • Based on BYRNE’s (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

15. Studies of accent • Accent divergence • To disassociate from the listener the speaker may emphasise pronunciation dissimilarities • Accent convergence • To gain another’s approval, the speaker may reduce pronunciation dissimilarities • Upward accent convergence • Downward accent convergence

16. Studies of accent convergence • COUPLAND (1984) • Observed accent convergence in a travel agency. • Number of h’s sounded by assistant varied from 3.7% to 29.3% • Significantly correlated with the proportion sounded by her clients

17. Accent 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?”

18. Experimental 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…

19. Communication 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

20. Discourse 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’.

21. Discourse 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)

22. Discursive Action Model(Edwards & Potter, 1993) • 3 major principles of discourse • Action • Fact and Interest • Accountability

23. Discursive 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

24. Discursive 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…’)

25. Discursive 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?

26. Discursive Action Model • Stake or Interest- how does the speaker construct an account without appearing partisanor 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

27. Example 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.

28. Jean’s 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

29. Agency 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

30. Construction 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.

31. Summary • 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)

32. Conclusions • 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

33. What next.. • Practical 2 (Assessed) Quantitative analysis of communication • Lecture 5 – Non Verbal Communicaiton: Facial Expressions of Emotion

34. Further 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