Showing papers by "Howard Giles published in 2016"

Communication accommodation theory: negotiating personal relationships and social identities across contexts

Abstract: Most people modify their ways of speaking, writing, texting, and e-mailing, and so on, according to the people with whom they are communicating. This fascinating book asks why we 'accommodate' to others in this way, and explores the various social consequences arising from it. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), revised and elaborated over the past 40 years, has been applied to a wide range of situations, from families to courtrooms, and from media to hospitals, by means of diverse methodologies in many disciplines, and across numerous languages and cultures. Bringing together a team of experts, this book demonstrates how the theory can help us towards a greater understanding of interpersonal communication in a multitude of contexts. Finally, it examines the principles of the theory, identifying a range of avenues along which research can move forward in future. A fascinating account of how and why we modify our way of speaking, texting, and e-mailing, and so on, according to the people with whom we are communicating. An invaluable resource for those already invoking Communication Accommodation Theory in their work, and for those yet to realize its potential. Furthers our understanding of interpersonal communication, and is of real significance to those studying new applied contexts, from families to courtrooms, and from media to hospitals.

I Don't Like You Because You're Hard to Understand: The Role of Processing Fluency in the Language Attitudes Process

Abstract: Two experiments examined the effects of processing fluency-that is, the ease with which speech is processed-on language attitudes toward native- and foreign-accented speech. Participants listened to an audio recording of a story read in either a Standard American English (SAE) or Punjabi English (PE) accent. They heard the recording either free of noise or mixed with background white noise of various intensity levels. Listeners attributed more solidarity (but equal status) to the SAE than the PE accent. Compared to quieter listening conditions, noisier conditions reduced processing fluency, elicited a more negative affective reaction, and resulted in more negative language attitudes. Processing fluency and affect mediated the effects of noise on language attitudes. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.

Silencing nonstandard speakers: A content analysis of accent portrayals on American primetime television

Abstract: Accent is a potent cue to social categorization and stereotyping. An important agent of accent-based stereotype socialization is the media. The present study is the first quantitative content analysis to comprehensively examine accent portrayals on American primetime television. We focused our analysis on portrayals of Standard American (SA), Nonstandard American (NSA), Foreign-Anglo (FA), and Foreign-Other (FO) accents. Results provide clear evidence that American media's portrayals of different accents are biased, reflecting pervasive societal stereotypes. Whereas SA and FA speakers are over-represented on television, NSA and FO speakers are effectively silenced, by virtue of their sheer absence and gross under-representation. Moreover, when NSA and FO speakers do rarely appear on television, they tend to be portrayed less favorably on status-related traits and physical appearance than SA and FA speakers. These findings provide insight into the potential influence of media consumption on consumers’ social perceptions of different linguistic groups. (Accents, media, language attitudes, stereotypes, content analysis)*

When Is It Acceptable to Lie? Interpersonal and Intergroup Perspectives on Deception

Abstract: While deception is generally viewed as an undesirable and unethical action, people evaluate some lies as more detrimental than others. This study examined factors influencing deception assessments, including the seriousness of the lie and whom it benefits. The effect of an intergroup versus an interpersonal context for the lie was examined. Utilizing 24 vignettes varying in terms of these conditions, 259 participants evaluated a lie’s appropriateness, deceptiveness, and complexity. Altruistic and white lies were viewed as less deceptive and more acceptable than self-serving and more consequential lies. Lies evaluated as least acceptable were interpersonal, serious, and self-serving compared to altruistic lies and those embedded in an intergroup context. Intergroup and interpersonal deceptions are recognized as distinct forms of lying and are evaluated differently.

Subjective Health: The Roles of Communication, Language, Aging, Stereotypes, and Culture

Abstract: A consensually-agreed position among scholars of communication and aging is that while psychological and physical health mutually impact each other, the quality of language to and from older adult individuals shape each of these—and are shaped by them. Encounters with others inside and outside of one’s age ingroup involve stereotyped expectations with regard to language and other speech behaviors, resulting in reinforcement of age-based stereotypes and changes in social interaction, personal control, and self-esteem. These outcomes interfere with the quality of care an older adult receives from medical practitioners as older patients simply enjoy more communication satisfaction with supportive physicians than those who utilize negative age stereotypes and language. Many studies have been language-oriented as evident in attention to patronizing talk, painful self-disclosures, and stereotypes. We overview some of the major findings arising from the study of language and aging, with a view to articulating a more cohesive, integrative model that can coalesce previous theoretical and empirical efforts.

“Don’t touch that dial”: Accommodating musical preferences in interpersonal relationships

Abstract: How we adapt our behavior for others’ preferences in interpersonal interactions—particularly when those preferences differ from our own—can be a means to nonverbally communicate our attention, interest, and concern for them. Invoking communication accommodation theory (CAT), this vignette study examined how relational closeness and attraction influenced accommodation to others’ musical tastes. One hundred and fifty-nine individuals completed questionnaires assessing their imagined musical accommodation in response to the scenarios detailed in the vignettes. As hypothesized, we found that accommodation of musical preferences was generally predicted by how relationally close or attractive these others were considered to be. However, how important individuals self-reported music to be did not moderate these results. These findings suggest that accommodating to another person’s musical tastes may be a nonverbal way of showing concern for another’s preferences and may communicate closeness and attraction. In t...