Rolf O. Kroger

Politeness and Forms of Address

The present paper considers the politeness of forms of address in terms of Brown & Levinsons (1987) theory of politeness. We present a conceptual analysis of the elements of politeness for six kinds of nominal address exchange and of the politeness expected for different categories of social relationship. These theoretical values are then compared to the politeness of address exchanges collected in a series of previous studies. The results of both the conceptual and empirical analyses are compatible with Brown & Levinsons assumption that negative politeness outweighs positive politeness. However, it appears that the formula for deriving the weightiness of face-threatening acts and hence politeness requires revisions that would give greater weight to status than to solidarity and incorporate the interaction of status and solidarity. We discuss the plausibility of the claim that negative politeness is more polite than positive politeness and consider the implications of our results for understanding the expression of solidarity and the relationship of affect to politeness.

The Analysis of Face Work in Discourse Review and Proposal

The Brown-Levinson (1987) theory of politeness has attracted a great deal of attention from a variety of disciplines. However, the lack of systematic methods for assessing discourse in terms of politeness has hampered the evaluation and development of the theory and the comparison of findings from different studies. The authors present a proposal that attempts to address some of the limitations of previous approaches and to extend their application to facework. The authors describe a theme for conceptualizing facework in discourse based on an ethogenic hierarchical analysis of action sequences in social episodes. From that scheme a procedure is derived for coding discourse in terms of its functions with respect to the face of speakers and hearers. The procedure is illustrated with examples from a research project on the use of facework in letters of appeal in an academic context.

Are the Rules of Address Universal? A Test of Chinese Usage

Our question was: Does the alleged universality of Browns Invariant Norm of Address (1965) extend to Chinese usage? Or, does the alleged universal relationship between social power and intimacy and between inequality and equality hold for Chinese social structure? To answer these questions, we developed three quantitative indices which measure the degrees of reciprocity, solidarity, and inequality in dyadic address exchanges. The indices permit the precise comparison of empirical results with theoretical predictions and of address usage across languages. Seventy Chinese speakers forming a diverse sample reported actual address usage received from and sent to 27 interactants. The results revealed the structure of address usage among Chinese speakers and provided unequivocal support for Browns prediction such that we may confidently add Chinese to the series of languages which jointly support the claim for the universality of the Invariant Norm. The relationship between studies in the semantics of social structure and the emerging alternative social-psychological strategy of ethogeny is noted.

Conceptual and Empirical Independence in Test Validation: a Note on Campbell and Fiske's 'Discriminant Validity'

IN two important papers, Campbell and Fiske (1959) and Campbell (1960) have argued for the requirement of ’discriminant validity’, i.e. the requirement that &dquo;... a test not correlate too highly with measures from which it is supposed to differ&dquo; (Campbell, 1960, p. 548). As an example of invalidation by high correlation, Campbell has singled out the fairly substantial empirical correlation between the California F Scale and measures of intelligence. Implicit in his argument is the inference that such correlation invalidates the F Scale and stamps it, in a sense, as a measure of intelligence. This paper suggests that the criterion implicit in the concept of discriminant validity is too strong and requires modification.

Forms of address, discourse and aging

Abstract The present article examines how forms of address figure in the lives of older people. From the perspective of discursive psychology (e.g., Edwards and Potter 1992; Potter and Wetherell 1987), we consider a number of samples of address exchange and show how forms of address may be used to enhance and diminish status and solidarity and to construct social identities for the older person. We examine the relationship of address forms to features of institutions and of institutional practices, to divergent interests of participants, to constructions of the nature of aging and to problems of politeness. The notion of symbiotic power is proposed as a way of reconceptualizing the powerlessness and dependence associated with aging. We consider how the realization of that power through the strategic deployment of forms of address by older people can help to maintain status and the integrity of self.

Are the Rules of Address Universal? III: Comparison of Chinese, Greek, and Korean Usage

Our basic questions were: Does the alleged universality of Browns invariant norm of address (1965) extend to Korean usage, and is the structure of address exchange cross-culturally similar for Korean, Greek, and Chinese speakers? To answer the first question, 73 Korean speakers from both Korea and Canada reported actual address usage received from and sent to 34 categories of interactants. Their answers were coded in terms of three quantitative indices that assess the degrees of reciprocity, solidarity, and inequality in dyadic address exchanges. The results supported Browns description of address exchange such that we may add Korean to the languages that support the claim for the universality of the rules of address. There were no significant differences in address usage between Korean speakers living in Korea and those living in Canada. To answer the second question, we compared Korean and previously reported Greek and Chinese usage to reveal substantial cross-cultural consistency. Some exceptions are noted, and the results are discussed in terms of some principles drawn from the alternative social-psychological strategy of ethogeny.

Are the Rules of Address Universal? II: Greek Usage

Our basic question was: Does the alleged universality of Browns Invariant Norm of Address (1965) extend to Greek usage? 56 Greek speakers forming a diverse sample reported actual address usage received from and sent to 28 categories of interactants. Their answers were coded in terms of three quantitative indices which measure the degree of reciprocity, solidarity, and inequality in dyadic address exchanges. The indices permit the precise comparison of empirical results with theoretical expectations. The results provided strong support for Browns description of the structure of address exchange such that we may add Greek to the languages that jointly support the claim for the university of the rules of address.

Discourse Analysis in Research on Aging

This article explores the potential of discourse analysis for understanding issues in aging and in the lives of older people. We describe discourse analysis from the perspective of discursive psychology and identify the basic features of discourse analysis: (1) talk and written texts are viewed as action; (2) talk itself is the topic of interest (not an index of internal states); (3) variability is viewed positively. Stages of discourse analysis are briefly discussed. We then consider examples of discourse-analytic research (on identity construction, phatic communion, frame stereotyping and humour). We conclude by suggesting possible uses and applications of discourse analysis in research on aging.

Faculty genealogies in five Canadian Universities: Historic‐graphical and pedagogical concerns

For those who are both scholars and teachers of the history of psychology, a dilemma arises concerning the historiographic versus pedagogic value of institutional genealogies. As part of the undergraduate History of Psychology course, faculty genealogies were constructed at five Canadian psychology departments (Calgary, Guelph, Toronto, Western Ontario and York); an operational definition of “Ph.D. supervisor” represented mentor-student “institutional” linkages. Seventy-five per cent of the 212 faculty were traceable to nine pioneer figures such as Wilhelm Wundt or William James. In contrasting historiographic pitfalls with pedagogic merits, we suggest that integrating a reflexive and critical examination of histriographic problems may tip the scales in favour of pedagogic reasons for conducting such genealogical research.

The social nature of hypnosis: An ethogenic analysis of hypnotic pain reduction☆

Abstract This article addresses the central paradox of hypnotic pain reduction: the discrepancy between self-reports and physiological measures of pain, using a constructionist perspective. The analysis is embedded in the ethogenic assumptions about the nature of the social and in realist rather than positivist notions of causality. It reformulates the induction procedure as an entrance ritual, considers the hypnosis experiment proper as a social episode, reveals the causal powers that subjects bring to hypnosis experiments and specifies how the act of hypnotic pain reduction is achieved. The analysis uses, in part, the Olympic athlete and the Olympic competition as analogic models to show that the hypnosis experiment is merely a public occasion for talented hypnotic subjects to display their peculiar powers without risking their standing as rational beings. The paradox is seen to be an artifact of positivist assumptions concerning both the nature of hypnosis and of traditional experimental methods. Two distinct lines of investigation, based on the competence/performance distinction, are recommended as guides for future research.