Politeness Effects in Directive Compliance: Effects with Power and Social Distance

Abstract

We present a theory of perceived politeness and its sociological functions derived from the work of Brown and Levinson (1987) and then extend that theory toward a cognitive model of politeness and its effects on human decision making. We then report the results of an experiment in which participants' directive compliance behaviors and attitudes are examined under conditions varying the amount of politeness or rudeness used and the power or familiarity relationship between the participant and the directive giver. Results show significant impacts of politeness on a variety of directive compliance behaviors, and show accuracy for predicting the relationship of Social Distance on perceived politeness and directive compliance. Predictions about the role of Power relationships were generally not as effective.

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