The polite abuser: Using politeness theory to examine emotional abuse

Polite responses to polite requests.

Indirect requests vary in politeness, for example, Can you tell me where Jordan Hall is? is more polite than Shouldn't you tell me where Jordan Hall is? By one theory, the more the literal meaning of a request implies personal benefits for the listener, within reason, the more polite is the request. This prediction was confirmed in Experiment I. Responses to indirect requests also vary in polit...

Universal politeness theory: application to the use of Japanese honorifics

One major objection to Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory [Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction, Cambridge University Press, 1978, pp. 56–311; Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987] raised by Matsumoto [J. Pragmatics 12 (1988) 403; Multilingua 8 (1989) 207; Japanese/Korean Linguistics, vol. 2, Center for the Study of...

What about emotional abuse?

Your line of questioning brings up a crucial point because emotional abuse can be complicated to discern, especially when compared to physical abuse since no visible wounds or scars are present; however, the impact of emotional abuse can be just as traumatic. Verbal abuse is the most common form and can be as obvious as threats, judgmental statements, blaming, lying, ordering, and name-calling,...

What about emotional abuse?

Your line of questioning brings up a crucial point because emotional abuse can be complicated to discern, especially when compared to physical abuse since no visible wounds or scars are present; however, the impact of emotional abuse can be just as traumatic. Verbal abuse is the most common form and can be as obvious as threats, judgmental statements, blaming, lying, ordering, and name-calling,...

Three levels in politeness theory and practice