Skip to main content

Culture, Emotion, and (Im)politeness Evaluations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Advancing (Im)politeness Studies

Part of the book series: Advances in (Im)politeness Studies ((AIMS))

  • 154 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explores the interconnections of culture, emotion, and (im)politeness evaluations. Emotions have always been an integral facet of (im)politeness and yet they have often neither been incorporated fully into theory nor researched in detail. After an initial introduction, the chapter first addresses the notion of ‘emotion’ and argues that the concept is more complex than it might appear at first sight. It then explores the role of emotions in the evaluation process by considering three main aspects: (a) triggers of emotion, especially as they relate to concerns for face, goals, and rights and obligations; (b) the appraisal/evaluation process and the component steps; and (c) (re)actional tendencies. Throughout the chapter, authentic incidents are used to illustrate the points.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-33105999 (accessed 21 October 2019).

References

  • Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1978). Universals in language usage: Politeness phenomenon. In E. N. Goody (Ed.), Questions and politeness: Strategies in social interaction (pp. 56–311). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, W.-L.M., & Haugh, M. (2011). Strategic embarrassment and face threatening in business interactions. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 2948–2963.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, C. H., & Lipp, G. D. (1998). Danger and opportunity. resolving conflict in U.S.-based Japanese subsidiaries. Intercultural Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culpeper, J. (2011). Impoliteness. Using language to cause offence. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B. L. (2018). Evaluating evaluations: What different types of metapragmatic behaviour can tell us about participants’ understandings of the moral order. Journal of Politeness Research, 14(1), 121–151. https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2017-0037

  • Eelen, G. (2001). A critique of politeness theories. St Jerome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face-to-face behaviour. Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J., Nosek, B. A., Haidt, J., Iyer, R., Koleva, S., & Ditto, P. H. (2011). Mapping the moral domain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 366–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J., Haidt, J., Motyl, M., Meindl, P., Iskiwitch, C., & Mooijman, M. (2018). Moral foundations theory. In K. Gray, & J. Graham (Eds.), Atlas of moral psychology (pp. 211–222). The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haidt, J., & Graham, J. (2007). When morality opposes justice: Conservatives have moral intuitions that liberals may not recognize. Social Justice Research, 20(1), 98–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-11007-10034-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haidt, J., & Kesebir, S. (2010). Morality. In S. Fiske, D. Gilbert, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., pp. 797–852). John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haugh, M. (2013). Im/politeness, social practice and the participation order. Journal of Pragmatics, 58, 52–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.1007.1003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández López, M. (2012). When health matters: The display of emotions as relational practice in genre-based cross-cultural contexts. ES. Revista De Filologia Inglesa, 33, 115–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, B., Lee, J. J., & Hauser, M. D. (2010). The moral-conventional distinction in mature moral competence. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 10(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853710X156497149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kádár, D. Z., & Haugh, M. (2013). Understanding politeness. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kádár, D. Z., & Márquez-Reiter, R. (2015). (Im)politeness and (im)morality: Insights from intervention. Journal of Politeness Research, 11(2), 239–260. https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2015-0010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locher, M. A., & Watts, R. J. (2005). Politeness theory and relational work. Journal of Politeness Research, 1(1), 9–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto, D. (1990). Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and Emotion, 17(3), 195–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto, D., Consolacion, T., Yamada, H., Suzuki, R., Franklin, B., Paul, S., & Uchida, H. (2002). American-Japanese cultural differences in judgements of emotional expressions of different intensities. Cognition and Emotion, 16(6), 721–747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. S. (1992). The nature and severity of self-reported embarrassing circumstances. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(2), 190–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parkinson, B., Fischer, A. H., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2005). Emotion in social relations. Cultural, group, and interpersonal processes. Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plutchik, R. (1994). The psychology and biology of emotion. Harper Collins College Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosaldo, M. Z. (1984). Towards an anthropology of self and feeling. In R. A. Shweder, & R. A. Levine (Eds.), Culture theory: Essays on mind, self and emotion (pp. 135–137). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver, P., Schwartz, J., Kirson, D., & O’Connor, C. (1987). Emotion knowledge: Further exploration of a prototype approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), 1061–1086.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H. (2002). Managing rapport in talk: Using rapport sensitive incidents to explore the motivational concerns underlying the management of relations. Journal of Pragmatics, 34, 529–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H. (2005). (Im)Politeness, face and perceptions of rapport: Unpackaging their bases and interrelationships. Journal of Politeness Research, 1(1), 95–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H. (2008). Face, (im)politeness and rapport. In H. Spencer-Oatey (Ed.), Culturally speaking: Culture, communication and politeness theory (2nd ed., pp. 11–47). Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H. (2011). Conceptualising the ‘relational’ in pragmatics: Insights from metapragmatic emotion and (im)politeness comments. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 3565–3578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H. (2022). Intercultural competence and harmonious intercultural relations: Interdisciplinary perspectives and insights. In X. Dai, & G.-M. Chen (Eds.), Conflict management and intercultural communication: The art of intercultural harmony (2nd ed., pp. 192–208). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H., & Kádár, D. Z. (2021). Intercultural politeness: Managing relations across cultures. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H., & Wang, J. (2019). Culture, context, and concerns about face: Synergistic insights from pragmatics and social psychology. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 38(4), 423–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H., & Xing, J. (2019). Interdisciplinary perspectives on interpersonal relations and the evaluation process: Culture, norms and the moral order. Journal of Pragmatics, 151, 141–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2019.1002.1015

  • Spencer-Oatey, H., Franklin, P. & Lazidou, D. (2022). Global fitness for global people: How to manage and leverage cultural diversity at work. Castledown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turiel, E. (1983). The development of social knowledge: Morality and convention. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wierzbicka, A. (1999). Emotions across languages and cultures: Diversity and universals. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen Spencer-Oatey .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Spencer-Oatey, H. (2023). Culture, Emotion, and (Im)politeness Evaluations. In: Xie, C. (eds) Advancing (Im)politeness Studies. Advances in (Im)politeness Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37064-9_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37064-9_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-37063-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-37064-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics