Interpersonal underpinnings of request strategies: General principles and differences due to culture and gender.

Several hypotheses derived from P. Brown and S. Levinson's (1987) politeness theory were tested with Ss from the US and Korea. Ss imagined themselves in situations in which they were to make a request. Ss then indicated exactly what they would say in each situation and what their perceptions of the request size, the hearer's power, and the closeness of their relationship with the hearer were. Consistent with Brown and Levinson's theory, power, distance, and size contributed significantly to politeness. Significant predictor variable interactions suggested that an additive model is not appropriate. Finally, there was evidence of cultural and gender differences in the weighting of these predictor variables. These differences can partially account for cultural and gender differences in language use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gambling, gambling activities, and problem gambling.

This research examined similarities and differences between gambling activities, with a particular focus on differences in gambling frequency and rates of problem gambling. The data were from population-based surveys conducted in Canada between 2001 and 2005. Adult respondents completed various versions of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI), including the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). A factor analysis of the frequency with which different gambling activities were played documented the existence of two clear underlying factors. One factor was comprised of Internet gambling and betting on sports and horse races, and the other factor was comprised of lotteries, raffles, slots/Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), and bingo. Factor one respondents were largely men; factor two respondents were more likely to be women and scored significantly lower on a measure of problem gambling. Additional analyses indicated that (1) frequency of play was significantly and positively related to problem gambling scores for all activities except raffles, (2) the relationship between problem gambling scores and frequency of play was particularly pronounced for slots/VLTs, (3) problem gambling scores were associated with playing a larger number of games, and (4) Internet and sports gambling had the highest conversion rates (proportion who have tried an activity who frequently play that activity). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Politeness as universal: Cross-cultural perceptions of request strategies and inferences based on their use.

P. Brown and S. Levinson's (1987) politeness theory attempts to explain how face-management processes (and the variables that affect it) motivate the manner in which speakers in any culture will phrase their remarks. Several hypotheses derived from this theory were tested with subjects from the United States and Korea. Subjects in Experiments 1 and 2 indicated their perceptions of different remarks that could be used for performing the same request. Perceptions of the politeness of these remarks covaried with the extent to which the remarks encoded concern for the hearer's face, and this occurred for both Americans and Koreans. There was only mixed support for predictions that the size of the request (Experiment 1) and the hearer's relative power and distance from the speaker (Experiment 2) will affect perceptions of remarks. The results of Experiment 3 indicate that inferences of speaker power and relationship closeness can be made on the basis of request forms, and this effect is similar for both Americans and Koreans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpreting indirect replies

PROBLEM/CONDITION: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States, and it has increased in importance during the preceding 20 years. Despite its importance, no comprehensive surveillance system has been established that measures asthma trends at the state or local level. REPORTING PERIOD: This report summarizes and reviews national data for specific end-points: self-reported asthma prevalence (1980-1994), asthma office visits (1975-1995), asthma emergency room visits (1992-1995), asthma hospitalizations (1979-1994), and asthma deaths (1960-1995). DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM: The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) annually conducts the National Health Interview Survey, which asks about self-reported asthma in a subset of the sample. NCHS collects physician office visit data with the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, emergency room visit data with the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and hospitalization data with the National Hospital Discharge Survey. NCHS also collects mortality data annually from each state and produces computerized files from these data. We used these datasets to determine self-reported asthma prevalence, asthma office visits, asthma emergency room visits, asthma hospitalizations, and asthma deaths nationwide and in four geographic regions of the United States (i.e., Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). RESULTS: We found an increase in self-reported asthma prevalence rates and asthma death rates in recent years both nationally and regionally. Asthma hospitalization rates have increased in some regions and decreased in others. At the state level, only death data are available for asthma; death rates varied substantially among states within the same region. INTERPRETATION: Both asthma prevalence rates and asthma death rates are increasing nationally. Available surveillance information are inadequate for fully assessing asthma trends at the state or local level. Implementation of better state and local surveillance can increase understanding of this disease and contribute to more effective treatment and prevention strategies.     

Texting versus talking: An exploration in telecommunication language

Prior research on text messaging has focused on its elliptical nature (e.g., acronyms, etc.). In contrast, the purpose of this research was to conduct an investigation of the type of words that tend to occur in text messages. Participants (N = 224) retrieved their most recent text messages which were then analyzed with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program (  and ) and compared with parallel analyses of randomly selected telephone conversations (N = 214). The results indicated numerous linguistic differences between text messages and telephone conversations. The former were linguistically simpler, more personal and more affective than the latter. Overall, the results further our understanding of the linguistic dimensions of this relatively new form of communication.     

Perceptions of public mobile phone conversations and conversationalists

This research examined perceptions of public mobile phone conversations and conversationalists. Participants viewed a staged video of a public conversation and later rated their perceptions of the conversation and target speaker. Two variables were manipulated: whether the conversation took place over a mobile phone or was face-to-face, and whether participants could hear both sides or only one side of the conversation. In general, participants rated the one side mobile phone conversation as more noticeable, intrusive, and annoying than the other conditions. Additionally, the target speaker in this condition was less well-liked than the speaker in the other conditions. Perceptions of the target’s extraversion varied as a function of whether the conversation occurred on a mobile phone or not. Overall, the results suggest the existence of negative views toward mobile phones and exposure to one side of a conversation.     

Styles of language use: Individual and cultural variability in conversational indirectness.

People differ in terms of whether they express their meanings directly or indirectly and whether they look for indirect meanings in remarks of others. Although many researchers have noted these differences, empirical research on this topic has been rare. This article reports the development and validation of a measure that assesses the production of indirectness (the extent to which a person phrases his or her remarks directly or indirectly) and the comprehension of indirectness (the extent to which a person looks for indirect meanings in the remarks of others). The author then used this measure to investigate intercultural communication (Koreans were more likely to speak indirectly and to look for indirect meanings than were Americans) and individual differences in conversation processing (people who scored high on the measure were more likely to comprehend certain indirect meanings and to be quicker at doing so than were those who scored low). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication in context: Effects of speaker status on the comprehension of indirect requests.

Four experiments, using 296 university students, were conducted to examine how a speaker's status can affect the comprehension of conventional and nonconventional indirect requests. The processing of conventional forms was not affected by the speaker's relative status, and consistent with past research (R. W. Gibbs; see record 1984-05770-001), these forms were recognized quickly and without the hearer recognizing and then rejecting the literal meaning of the remark. In contrast, processing of nonconventional forms was affected by speaker status. When the interactants were equal in status, the comprehension of nonconventional forms was time-consuming and involved activation of the remark's literal meaning. This did not occur when the speaker was higher in status than the hearer. Results illustrate the role played by the interpersonal context in the comprehension of certain indirect requests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving artificial social agents

Three experiments were conducted to examine perceptions of a natural language computer interface (conversation bot). Participants in each study chatted with a conversation bot and then indicated their perceptions of the bot on various dimensions. Although participants were informed that they were interacting with a computer program, participants clearly viewed the program as having human-like qualities. Participants agreed substantially in their perceptions of the bot’s personality on the traits from the five-factor model (Experiment 1). In addition, factors that influence perceptions of human personalities (e.g., whether one uses another’s first name and response latency) also affected perceptions of a bot’s personality (Experiments 2 and 3). Similar to interactions with humans, the bot’s perceived neuroticism was inversely related to how long individuals chatted with it.     

Language structure in social interaction: Perceptions of direct and indirect speech acts and interactants who use them.

According to speech act theory (J. R. Searle, 1975), speech acts can be performed either directly or indirectly. It is argued that the appropriateness of this choice is affected by the process of face management and the relative status of the speaker and that the choice of how to perform speech acts will encode social information. In 2 experiments with 216 undergraduates, a written scenario format was used. In Exp I, Ss rated direct and indirect questions and replies as a function of the status of the target interactants and the extent to which the requested information was face threatening. Perceptions of the appropriateness of replies, but not the questions, varied as a function of face threat. The effects of status were in the predicted direction for both questions and replies, but they were significant only for the perceived politeness of questions. Ss in Exp II rated the scenario interactants and their relationships as a function of the use of direct and indirect replies and rated possible rejoinders to these replies. Inferences of status, liking, and closeness varied as a function of the reply type used, and indirect replies were more likely to be accepted than to be questioned when there was an obvious reason for their use (i.e., to manage face concerns). Overall findings provide evidence that interactional phenomena are encoded in language. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)