Showing papers by "Howard Giles published in 1997"

Young People's Beliefs About Intergenerational Communication An Initial Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract: This article examines young people's perceptions of their conversations with older people (age 65-85) across nine cultures−five Eastern and four Western. Responses from more than 1,000 participants were entered into a crossnational factor analysis, which revealed four initial factors that underlie perceptions of intergenerational conversations. Elder nonaccommodation was when young participants reported that older people negatively stereotyped the young and did not attend to their communication needs. On the other hand, elder accommodation was when older people were perceived as supportive, attentive and generally encouraging to young people. A third factor was respect/obligation and a fourth factor labeled age-irrelevant positivity described a situation where young people felt conversations with much older people were emotionally positive and satisfying, age did not matter. Examining cross-cultural differences, some East versus West differences were observed, as might be expected, on the basis of simplis...

Words as Weapons--When Do They Wound? Investigations of Harmful Speech.

Abstract: The following investigations juxtapose jurisprudence and communication literatures to examine under what conditions racist speech is perceived as harmful. Specifically, one theory of legal liability, the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, and one intergroup approach, social identity theory, guided three empirical studies investigating verbally disturbing communication targeted at Asian Americans. The studies examined how the attribution of harm was influenced by variables such as group membership, message severity, message explicitness and the medium ofpresentation. One finding in particular, an interaction between group membership and message explicitness (direct vs. indirect), emerged across the three studies. Results revealed that as “objective” evaluators of deprecating speech, out-group members attributed the direct messages of racism to be more harmful than in-group members did, but, conversely, in-group members evaluated the indirect messages of racism to be more harmful than the out-group members did. Theoretical explanations for this finding and its resulting legal implications are discussed.

Evaluations of patronizing speech and three response styles in a non‐service‐providing context

Abstract: Earlier studies have documented observers’ negative evaluations of patronizing speech directed towards elderly individuals. In addition, such studies have demonstrated that evaluations of individuals in a patronizing encounter are affected by the response style of the patronizee (e.g., assertive responses are associated with higher evaluations of competence). In the current study, undergraduates (N = 162) evaluated, among other things, the actors in a conversational vignette between a driver and a bystander occurring immediately following an auto accident; open‐ended data also were collected. In a between‐subjects design, the script was factorially varied in terms of the age of the driver (40 vs. 75 years), the presence of patronizing speech from the bystander (present vs. absent), and the driver's response style (neutral vs. assertive vs. non‐relevant). As in previous research, the patronizing speaker was perceived as less respectful, nurturant, and competent than the non‐patronizing speaker. An...

Social Groups and Social Stereotypes

Abstract: A series of studies by Taylor and Simard (1975) demonstrated that cross-cultural communication can be, in objective terms, as effective as within-group communication. We should ask then, why this is not always the case, and subjectively too. A major part of the answer, we believe, lies in the role played by stereotypes. We therefore consider the nature of stereotypes, their cognitive foundations and consequences, social functions, resistance to change, and relationship to behaviour.