Alle Publikationen
2017
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(2017): Familiarity with Own Population's Appearance Influences Facial Preferences. In: Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) 28 (3), S. 344-354. DOI: 10.1007/s12110-017-9289-8
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28516361 Abstract: Previous studies have found that individuals from rural areas in Malaysia and in El Salvador prefer heavier women than individuals from urban areas. Several explanations have been proposed to explain these differences in weight preferences but no study has explored familiarity as a possible explanation. We therefore sought to investigate participants' face preferences while also examining the facial characteristics of the actual participants. Our results showed that participants from rural areas preferred heavier-looking female faces than participants from urban areas. We also found that the female faces from the rural areas were rated as looking heavier than the female faces from the urban areas. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that familiarity may be contributing to the differences found in face preferences between rural and urban areas given that people from rural and urban areas are exposed to different faces.
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(2017): The Network Dynamics of Status. Assimilation and Selection. In: Social Forces 96 (1), S. 389-422. DOI: 10.1093/sf/sox040
Abstract: Using longitudinal data that we have collected on friendship and advice relations in a cohort of MBA students, we examine how status affects the dynamics of network ties among peers. Estimates of Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models (SAOMs) suggest that status is a consequence of network ties because over time the level of status attributed to individual students by other students tends to the average level of status attributed to their network partners-a phenomenon we call status assimilation. Status is also an antecedent to network ties because it affects partner selection decisions, giving rise to distinct forms of social attachment. We find that both network-based processes of status assimilation, as well as status-based processes of social selection, are present, but they vary subtly yet significantly across network domains. Students tend to the average level of status of their friends, but not to that of their advisors. High-status students are more active in the friendship network, but more popular in the advice network. We find evidence of performance homophily rather than status homophily: students with similar grades are more likely to exchange friendship and advice ties. High-status students tend to be more central in the advice network, but status attributions spill over through friendship, rather than advice relations. The study documents how the relation between social status and social networks varies both over time, as well as across network domains. The study also demonstrates the importance of accounting for multiplexity-the tendency of a network to operate through another.
Keywords: ADVICE, Bekanntheitsgrad, CENTRALITY, decision-making, Disziplin, EXCHANGE, Favoriten, friendship, Gruppenverhalten / Joint Action, INEQUALITY, MARKET, Modelle/Theorien, Netzwerk, Netzwerktheorien, ORGANIZATIONAL CHOICE, POWER, social importance dynamics, social networks, Soziale Angemessenheit, Soziologie, Status, Status-zentriert 2016
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(2016): Address practices in academic interactions in a pluricentric language. In: Pragmatics 26 (4), S. 631-652. DOI: 10.1075/prag.26.4.05for
Abstract: Following the recent development of address research in pluricentric languages (Clyne et al. 2006), the present study describes address practices in English-speaking academic settings and pursues two main objectives: (a) to provide a profile of address patterns in academic interactions in Australian English; and (b) to compare address practices in higher education across the three dominant varieties of English, namely American English, Australian English, and British English. The data on Australian English are drawn from 235 questionnaires completed by students, who reported on the address strategies adopted by students and teaching staff in classroom interactions in an Australian university. Data on American and British academic settings were retrieved from the research literature on the topic. The findings show a high degree of informality and familiarity in student-teacher relations in Australia, where reciprocal first names are the default pattern of address at all levels. By contrast, in American academia the hierarchical organization of roles and the different professional positions are foregrounded and reinforced through an asymmetrical use of titles, honorifics and first names. Finally, the British university setting displays a non-reciprocal usage of first names and titles between lecturer and students, which gradually evolves into a more generalised reciprocal use of first names, usually after extended contact and collaboration. We argue that the distinctive patterns of address observed in the three varieties of English reflect diverse social and cultural values systems at work in different speech communities.
2015
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(2015): “Swear words” and “curse words” in Australian (and American) English. At the crossroads of pragmatics, semantics and sociolinguistics. In: Intercultural Pragmatics 12 (2). DOI: 10.1515/ip-2015-0010
Abstract: This study seeks to show that Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) analytical techniques allow an integrated semantic-pragmatic approach to the use of "swear words" and "curse (cuss) words". The paper begins with a semantic exegesis of the lexical items swear word and curse word. This is helpful to delimit and conceptualize the phenomena being studied, and it also hints at some interesting differences between the speech cultures of Australian English and American English. Subsequent sections propose semantic explications for a string of swear/curse words and expressions as used in Australian English, including: exclamations (Shit! Fuck! Damn! Christ! Jesus!), abuse formulas (Fuck you!, Damn you!), interrogative and imperative formulas (e.g. Who the fuck do you think you are?; Get the hell out of here!), and the free use of expressive adjectives, such as fucking and goddamn, in angry swearing. A novel aspect, with interesting implications for the relationship between semantics and pragmatics, is that the explications incorporate a metalexical awareness section, modelling speaker awareness of the ethnometapragmatic status of the word in the community of discourse. The study goes on to address so-called "social/conversational" swearing. I propose cultural scripts to capture some Anglo ethnopragmatic assumptions about how the use of swear/curse words can be affected by perceptions of familiarity, solidarity, and mutuality. Differences between Australian English and American English are discussed at various points.
Keywords: Art der Beziehung zum Interaktionspartner, Bekanntheitsgrad, Beleidigungen/swearwords etc., Kultur, mutuality, Relevenz von persönlichem Bekanntheitsgrad beim Benutzen von Schimpfwörtern, social/conversational swearing, Solidarität, Soziale Distanz, Sprachgebrauch, time, Verwendung von grober Sprache/incivility -
(2015): "Lo siento, pero me parecen horribles!!!": Pragmalinguistic analysis of impoliteness in the Facebook social network. In: REVISTA DE FILOLOGIA DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE LA LAGUNA 33, S. 217-236
Abstract: This paper focuses on analyzing the strategies of impoliteness displayed on two corpora of publications extracted from the social network Facebook. To this purpose, theoretical models about impoliteness designed by Culpeper (1996, 2005) and Culpeper, Bousfield and Wichmann (2003), Kientpointner (1997, 2008), Kaul (2005, 2008) and Ridao (2009) have been studied. From this analysis, two main conclusions were obtained. On one hand, the absence of hurtful impoliteness in private profiles examined, in contrast to the presence of strategies of direct impoliteness in public profiles. On the other hand, the need to analyze impoliteness in social networks taking into account these variables: direction or indirection, intentional or not intentional, membership of the damaged image (sender or receiver), low or high group connection, degree of hierarchy and familiarity
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(2015): The role of critical friends in supporting institutional change Developing a collaborative environment. In: JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN HIGHER EDUCATION 7 (2), S. 412-428
Abstract: Purpose - Over the course of three years (2010-2013), the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED; a Consortium of 86 colleges and schools of education) Phase I institutions were involved in the Fund for the Improvement of Secondary Education mixed-methods, multi-case study. Data were collected from Primary Investigators, and stakeholders involved in the (re) design of a professional practice doctorate in education. At the conclusion of the research study, each institution was the recipient of a Critical Friends (CFs) Response Report. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the effectiveness of CFs in supporting institutional change by developing a collaborative environment in Higher Education. Design/methodology/approach - First, the role of CFs, and Critical Friend Group (CFG) protocol is described. Second, analyzed data from CF Response Reports is reviewed. Lastly, recommendations for the application of the conceptual framing of CFs within the academy are discussed. Findings - CF Response Reports reflect application of CFG protocol All CF Response Reports contained examples of both positive and cool feedback. This outcome supports previous research (Curry, 2008; Kuh, 2006; Butler et al., 2011) which suggest the protocol structure helped the CFs to focus in order to be supportive and positive. Fewer reports (12) identified institutional and program challenges. This may be a reflection of the dichotomy between friendship and critique which may lead to tension (Swaffield, 2005). A CF may be more likely to articulate a challenge in a face to face meeting knowing that any ensuing tension can be immediately addressed as opposed to stating the issues on paper with no immediate opportunity for the recipient to respond. Research limitations/implications - Several limitations of the data deserve attention. First, the data did not allow us to explore the relationship between CFs, actual practice, and doctoral program reform. Another limitation of the data are that it emanates from Phase I CPED institutions only. As such, these CFs may not be generally representative. The study would be strengthened if the work could be extended to include institutions from Phase II and III CPED institutions. As the authors continue to develop the understanding of critical friendship in academia the authors can apply this knowledge to support colleagues in their doctoral program reform and redesign. Practical implications - Based on this study, it is possible to identify several recommendations that are instructive within a Higher Education context. Organizational change and specifically program (re) design is a complex process, and there is no clear certainty of success. Pragmatically, the impetus for utilizing the CF model should be intrinsic, developed by the institutions themselves. Organizational support, knowledge sharing, and communication is required to enable the CF model to be implemented with fidelity (e.g. presentations, and web site information). Social implications - Faculty may feel vulnerable and lacking in support, but the adoption of a CF model enables them to not only see the institution from a different perspective, but also helps them bring the familiar into a new focus. External institutional support can alleviate faculty vulnerability, enhance faculty resilience to in-house challenges, and facilitate institutional collaboration. Originality/value - This study suggests that the external advocacy of the CF can positively impact change in the academy, and innovative doctoral program design by first fostering individual resilience to encountered challenges, and second enhancing institutional learning through institutional collaboration.
2014
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(2014): Inference or Familiarity? The Embodied Roots of Social Cognition. In: SYNTHESIS PHILOSOPHICA 29 (2), S. 253-272
Abstract: I consider two distinct deflationary theories in social cognition that aim to explain action understanding without demanding meta-representational or mindreading processes: the first one is the 'teleological stance hypothesis' (TSH), claiming that we infer the intended goal of a certain observed action based on the mere perception of its effects and of its situational constraints; I decided to dub the second one 'the embodied familiarity hypothesis' (EFH) to comprise all the theories claiming that we recognize the intended goal of a certain action based on the perceptual or motoric expertise developed within the sensorimotor contingencies associated to that action's context. TSH's main requirement is that the observer could ascribe efficiency, and therefore rationality, to the observed agent's movement, while EFH's main requirement is that the observer were somehow exposed to the perceptual or motoric details of the observed agent's action. I argue that EFH describes a more primitive and fundamental form of action understanding, i.e. one that is necessarily presupposed by TSH: in fact, while recognizing efficiency is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for detecting goal-relatedness, some kind of perceptual or motoric familiarity with the details of the observed action's context is always necessary for any ascription of efficiency, and therefore of rationality, to the observed agent. I conclude that, while TSH might certainly be effective in describing certain rational forms of action understanding, it implicitly requires EFH to be true, as its inferential system would be groundless without an assumed familiar background of embodied expertise.
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(2014): OCCASIONAL POLITENESS AND GENTLEMEN'S LAUGHTER IN 18th C ENGLAND. In: The Historical Journal 57 (04), S. 921-945. DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X14000302
Abstract: This article considers the intersection between polite manners and company in eighteenth-century England. Through the laughter of gentlemen, it makes a case for a concept of occasional politeness, which is intended to emphasize that polite comportment was only necessary on certain occasions. In particular, it was the level of familiarity shared by a company that determined what was considered appropriate. There was unease with laughter in polite sociability, yet contemporaries understood that polite prudence could be waived when men met together in friendly homosocial encounters. In these circumstances, there existed a tacit acceptance of looser manners that might be called 'intimate bawdiness', which had its origins in a renaissance humanist train of thought that valorized wit as the centrepiece of male sociability. This argument tempers the importance of politeness by stressing the social contexts for which it was - and was not - a guiding principle. Ultimately, it suggests that the category of company might be one way of rethinking eighteenth-century sociability in a more pluralistic fashion, which allows for contradictory practices to co-exist. As such, it moves towards breaking down the binary oppositions of polite and impolite, elite and popular, and theory and practice that have been imposed on the period.
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(2014): The role of the degree of acquaintance with teachers on students’ interpersonal perceptions of their teacher. In: Social Psychology of Education 17 (1), S. 127-140. DOI: 10.1007/s11218-013-9234-6
Abstract: Some researchers suggest that the way a teacher is perceived during the first encounter with a classroom group resembles, and therefore is predictive of, later classroom processes as perceived by students. This study investigated the degree to which interpersonal ratings (i.e., control and affiliation), given by secondary school students to teachers unknown to them, are comparable to ratings given by students who are well acquainted with that teacher, by means of a quasi-experimental design. Ratings concerning a teacher students had not met before, based on a 5 min video vignette, were compared to ratings given by students who had been taught by the same teacher for at least a year (N 489). Students at no acquaintance perceived a teacher's interpersonal traits in a similar way as students who were familiar with that teacher. It is concluded that students' early interpersonal perceptions of a teacher largely resemble perceptions formed by students that know this teacher well.
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(2014): Expressing disagreement in English as a lingua franca. Whose pragmatic rules?. In: Intercultural Pragmatics 11 (2). DOI: 10.1515/ip-2014-0009
Abstract: Multicultural classrooms provide the intercultural pragmatist with a breeding ground to get firsthand information on intercultural communication. In such a context, if English is used as a lingua franca, these classrooms also become an ideal setting to observe the pragmatics of this relatively unknown variety. The present article aims to analyze qualitatively a sample of data produced by a multicultural group of masters students in which English is used as the lingua franca. More specifically, I intend to answer the following research question: In a multicultural class where English is the medium of instruction and students' peer to peer communication, whose pragmatic "rules" are followed? In other words, do these speakers stick to their own cultural pragmatic rules or follow nativelike ones? More specifically, I focus on the speech act of disagreement given its face-threatening nature and its disruptive potential if carried out in what interlocutors might perceive as the "wrong" way. Disagreement was also chosen given the relative paucity of studies on this speech act - as opposed, for example, others like requests or compliments. For this purpose, the 10 students -from very different cultural backgrounds -were asked to carry out a group assignment. Their negotiation and discussion process, however, was computer-mediated via the use of forums rather than face-to-face. This allowed the researcher to collect -naturally occurring, spontaneous data in a relatively easy way (without the need for transcription). It also gave the students the opportunity to interact in a more democratic way. In fact, by being an asynchronous discussion online, they did not have to fight for the conversational turn, but all of them had the chance to contribute to the discussion at their own pace. The sample so collected consists of 15,598 words. The limitation of the sample calls for a qualitative rather than a quantitative approach but is valuable insofar as it represents naturally occurring data. Disagreement expressions were classified according to two main categories: strong and mitigated disagreement (following Kreutel 2007; Pomerantz 1984 and Rees-Miller 2000). Inspection of the data reveals that students on the whole show a tendency to avoid strong disagreement whilst favoring mitigated disagreement of different sorts (e.g., use of hedges, asking for clarification, giving explanations, etc.). Moreover, students with high linguistic proficiency displayed a wider range of strategies, following a more nativelike pattern -specifically; they seemed to follow the pragmatic rules of British English. On the other hand, students whose linguistic proficiency was lower also showed a tendency to avoid strong disagreement but were much more limited with regard to their mitigating strategies, favoring the nonnative overuse of expressions of regret and hedges. Other variables, such as familiarity with their partners and their linguistic proficiency, as well as the nature of the task at hand, also played a central role in the students' choice of the common rules of a native variety.
2013
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(2013): The influence of familiarity, trust and norms of reciprocity on an experienced sense of community. An empirical analysis based on social online services. In: Behaviour & Information Technology 34 (4), S. 392-412. DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2014.959455
Abstract: The growing use of social online services raises the question of what encourages members to participate actively and maintain accumulated social capital. Our research has particularly become aware of the relevance of familiarity, trust and reciprocity in understanding the members' sense of a virtual community (VC). Familiarity and trust are efficient criteria to assess and determine the extent to which one should engage in a virtual relationship. Furthermore, the effort of sharing experiences and knowledge must be based on the expectation of receiving certain returns. A structural equation modelling, specifically partial least squares, is proposed to assess the relationships between the constructs. Overall, the empirical results provided strong support for the hypotheses. Familiarity and trust lead the member to develop a growing perceived community support (PCS) and significantly influence the sense of a VC. Norms of reciprocity directly influence affective trust and PCS. Higher familiarity does not moderate the impact of affective trust on PCS, however. The results of this study could thus help social online service providers to create a successful business model and to determine the main drivers of the members' sense of a VC.
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(2013): ‘Do You Think I’m Stupid?. ’: Urban Encounters between People with and without Intellectual Disability. In: Urban Studies 50 (12), S. 2391-2406. DOI: 10.1177/0042098012474521
Abstract: Being amongst strangers is a definitive aspect of life in the modern city. To understand social inclusion in cities, it is necessary to consider not only the strength and extent of social networks of familiarity, but also the role of interactions with strangers in the public realm. People with intellectual disability are considered one of the most marginalised groups in society and the study applies the concept of encounter to offer a new perspective on their inclusion/exclusion, informed by contemporary urban theory rather than more nostalgic notions of community. The paper discusses encounters between people with and without intellectual disability in one suburb in Melbourne, Australia. The study is based, primarily, on field observations in a variety of settings in the public realm. Through analysis of these data, a typology of urban encounters is proposed that involves people with and without intellectual disability.
2012
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(2012): Infants prefer the faces of strangers or mothers to morphed faces. An uncanny valley between social novelty and familiarity. In: Biology letters 8 (5), S. 725-728. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0346
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22696289 Abstract: The 'uncanny valley' response is a phenomenon involving the elicitation of a negative feeling and subsequent avoidant behaviour in human adults and infants as a result of viewing very realistic human-like robots or computer avatars. It is hypothesized that this uncanny feeling occurs because the realistic synthetic characters elicit the concept of 'human' but fail to satisfy it. Such violations of our normal expectations regarding social signals generate a feeling of unease. This conflict-induced uncanny valley between mutually exclusive categories (human and synthetic agent) raises a new question: could an uncanny feeling be elicited by other mutually exclusive categories, such as familiarity and novelty? Given that infants prefer both familiarity and novelty in social objects, we address this question as well as the associated developmental profile. Using the morphing technique and a preferential-looking paradigm, we demonstrated uncanny valley responses of infants to faces of mothers (i.e. familiarity) and strangers (i.e. novelty). Furthermore, this effect strengthened with the infant's age. We excluded the possibility that infants detect and avoid traces of morphing. This conclusion follows from our finding that the infants equally preferred strangers' faces and the morphed faces of two strangers. These results indicate that an uncanny valley between familiarity and novelty may accentuate the categorical perception of familiar and novel objects.
Keywords: Adult, Bekanntheitsgrad, Biologie, Emotions, Entwicklungspsychologie, Erwartungen, erwartungen und Erwartungserwartungen, Eye Movements, Face, familiarity, Female, Humans, Infant, Learning, Male, Mothers, Pattern Recognition, Visual, PERCEPTION, Psychologie, p-zombies, Recognition (Psychology)/physiology, Uncanny Valley Effekt, Visual Perception/physiology 2010
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(2010): Addressing non-acquaintances in Tunisian Arabic. A cognitive-pragmatic account. In: Intercultural Pragmatics 7 (1). DOI: 10.1515/iprg.2010.007
Abstract: The literature on terms of address (TofA) abounds in both sociolinguistics and pragmatics. Mostly, sociolinguistics explains them with rank and age (Trudgill 1983; Wardhaugh 1986; Fasold 1990; Holmes 1992; Romaine 1994) and pragmatics with politeness (Brown and Levinson 1987). Furthermore, TofA are mostly studied as occurring between acquaintances that know about the social rank and age of each other to produce the address that is most coherent with the context of situation. The present study focuses on TofA used in addressing non-acquaintances, i.e., people who have never met one another before. Evidence from Tunisian Arabic (TA) shows that TofA as used with non-acquaintances are not motivated by rank and politeness as much as by the addresser's drive to create familiarity and minimize distance with the addressee. Such a pragmatic minimization of distance is not noticed when TofA are used with acquaintances. Speakers of TA inject kinship-related terms in their address to non-acquaintances in view of creating rapprochement between the speaker as a deictic center and the addressee in the periphery Such a rapprochement is made possible through the manipulation by the speaker of the FAR-NEAR schema (Johnson 1987) related to the CENTER-PERIPHERY image schema. The paper intends to show this taming of addressees by studying TofA in TA through Lakoff's (1982, 1987) theory of categorization known as Idealized Cognitive Models (ICMs).
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(2010): Age Differences and Degree of Acquaintance as Determinants of Interpersonal Distance. In: The Journal of Social Psychology 93 (1), S. 133-134. DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1974.9923137
2009
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(2009): The effects of degree of acquaintance, plate size, and sharing on food intake. In: Appetite 52 (3), S. 595-602. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.02.004
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19501755 Abstract: This study examined the effects of degree of acquaintance, plate size, and sharing on the amount of pasta individuals served themselves and subsequently consumed and whether or not they took second helpings. Fifty-seven pairs of female participants ate a meal of pasta; the members of each pair were either friends or strangers. During the meal, they served themselves either from a common serving bowl or from individual serving bowls and onto either small or large plates. The findings indicated that participants who ate with a friend served and consumed more than those who ate with a stranger, and those who shared served and consumed less than those who did not share. However, this sharing effect seemed to occur only when participants ate from small plates. Whether or not participants reported taking second helpings was influenced by all three of the independent variables.
Keywords: Adolescent, Adult, Bekanntheitsgrad, Cross-Over Studies, Cues, degree of acquaintance, Disziplin, Eating/psychology, Energy Intake, entscheiden, essen, Feeding Behavior/psychology, Female, Humans, Interpersonale Wahrnehmung, Psychologie, Social Behavior, Social Environment, Social Facilitation, Surveys and Questionnaires, SV, Verhalten, Visual Perception, Young Adult -
(2009): Is family special to the brain? An event-related fMRI study of familiar, familial, and self-face recognition. In: Neuropsychologia 47 (3), S. 849-858. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.12.027
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19159636 Abstract: The face-processing network has evolved to respond differentially to different classes of faces depending on their relevance to the perceiver. For example, self-, familiar, and unknown faces are associated with activation in different neural substrates. Family should represent a special class of face stimuli that is of high relevance to individuals, because incorrect assignment of kinship can have dire consequences (e.g., incest, cuckoldry). Therefore evolution should have favored redundant mechanisms for detection of kin. We used fMRI to investigate the neural substrates associated with viewing faces of kin compared to other classes of faces (e.g., self-face, familiar face, and unknown face), and to examine the degree to which self-facial resemblance activated similar neural substrates. Contrasting kin faces with unknown faces activated substrates associated with self-face recognition, while comparing kin faces to friend faces activated posterior cingulate and cuneus. Similar posterior medial substrates were recruited when contrasting self-resembling faces with morphed faces of kin, suggesting these regions potentially represent computational processing about facial familiarity and identity. On the other hand, discrimination of self-resembling faces from familiar morphs activated anterior medial substrates (anterior cingulate cortex, ACC, medial prefrontal cortex, MPFC). These findings, and a region of interest (ROI) analysis, highlight the role of the extended face-processing network for discrimination of kin from familiar non-kin members of one's social group based on self-referent phenotypic cues.
Keywords: Adult, Bekanntheitsgrad, Brain/anatomy & histology/physiology, Discrimination (Psychology)/physiology, Face, familiarity, Female, Gesichtserkennung, Gesichtszüge, Gyrus Cinguli/physiology, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neurowissenschaften, Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology, Prefrontal Cortex/physiology, Visual Perception/physiology, Young Adult 2008
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(2008): The pragmatics of swearing. In: Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture 4 (2). DOI: 10.1515/JPLR.2008.013
Abstract: The main purpose of swearing is to express emotions, especially anger and frustration. Swear words are well suited to express emotion as their primary meanings are connotative. The emotional impact of swearing depends on ones experience with a culture and its language conventions. A cognitive psychological framework is used to account for swearing in a variety of contexts and provide a link to impoliteness research. In support of this framework, native and non-native English-speaking college students rated the offensiveness and likelihood of hypothetical scenarios involving taboo words. The ratings demonstrated that appropriateness of swearing is highly contextually variable, dependent on speaker-listener relationship, social-physical context, and particular word used. Additionally, offensiveness ratings were shown to depend on gender (for native speakers) and English experience (for non-native speakers). Collectively these data support the idea that it takes time for speakers to learn where, when, and with whom swearing is appropriate.
Keywords: Bekanntheitsgrad, Beleidigungen/swearwords etc., Contextual variability of swearing appropriateness, Favoriten, Genderabhängigkeit, (Individueller) Sprachstil, Konventionen, Kultur, Muttersprachler vs. Zweitsprachler, Relevenz von persönlichem Bekanntheitsgrad beim Benutzen von Schimpfwörtern, Situationsbedingter Kontext, Sprachgebrauch, time, Verwendung von grober Sprache/incivility -
(2008): Social Trust and Attitudes Toward Democracy. In: Public Opinion Quarterly 72 (4), S. 706-724. DOI: 10.1093/poq/nfn054
Abstract: Social science research demonstrates that people are drawn to others perceived as similar. We extend this finding to political candidates by comparing the relative effects of candidate familiarity as well as parlisan, issue, gender, and facial similarity on voters' evaluations of candidates. In Experiment 1, during the week of the 2006 Florida gubernatorial race, a national representative sample of voters viewed images of two unfamiliar candidates (Crist and Davis) morphed with either themselves or other voters. Results demonstrated a strong preference for facially similar candidates, despite no conscious awareness of the similarity manipulation. In Experiment 2, one week before the 2004 presidential election, a national representative sample of voters evaluated familiar candidates (Bush and Kerry). Strong partisans were unmoved by the facial similarity manipulation, but weak partisans and independents preferred the candidate with whom their own face had been morphed over the candidate morphed with another voter. In Experiment 3, we compared the effects of policy similarity and facial similarity using a set of prospective 2008 presidential candidates. Even though the effects of party and policy similarity dominated, facial similarity proved a significant cue for unfamiliar candidates. Thus, the evidence across the three studies suggests that even in high-profile elections, voters prefer candidates high in facial similarity, but most strongly with unfamiliar candidates.
2007
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(2007): The Moderators and Mediators of Door-in-the-Face Requests. Is it a Negotiation or a Helping Experience?. In: Communication Monographs 74 (3), S. 333-356. DOI: 10.1080/03637750701543469
Abstract: The Door-in-the-Face ( DITF) compliance-gaining tactic occurs when a large request, expected to be rejected, is followed by a more reasonable request that is granted. The mechanisms underlying the DITF strategy remain unclear. Researchers have posed different explanations for the effectiveness of DITF, including the reciprocal concessions and the social responsibility models. These theoretical rationales for DITF were tested in a 3 ( request type: initial request only, DITF sequence, small request only) x 2 ( initial request size: moderate, large) x 2 ( solicitor familiarity: friend, stranger) between-participants experiment. Findings from the compliance data are mostly consistent with the reciprocal concessions model; but, findings from the cognitive and affective data were mixed. It appears that DITF messages are perceived as a helping situation for friends, but not for strangers. Strangers view request messages of all sizes to be a negotiation, but friends see these requests as a negotiation only when the initial request is large.
2005
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(2005): Social Stratification of Musical Tastes. Questioning the Cultural Legitimacy Model. In: Revue française de sociologie 46 (5), S. 123-154. DOI: 10.3917/rfs.465.0123
Abstract: In sociological study of artistic tastes, the behavior of the upper classes is usually characterized by a penchant for "highbrow" arts and simultaneous rejection of popular arts and the products of mass culture. However, the trends brought to light by analysis of cultural practices survey data do not entirely confirm this representation. What distinguishes upper class behavior is in fact not so much familiarity with "legitimate" culture, as is often claimed, but diversity of stated preferences, in contrast to members of lower-status classes, whose preferences appear more exclusive. A contrast can therefore be established between the traditional model of cultural legitimacy and a model in terms of eclecticism. This article seeks to assess the import of the latter model on the basis of data on preferences in music from a 1997 survey of French cultural practices. First, French practices in this area unequivocally confirm the relevance of the eclecticism model, though that model appears more an extension of the cultural legitimacy model than a refutation of it. Second, the preference typology constructed through analysis of the data, and distribution of individuals by social factors among five music-listener profiles defined on the basis of that typology, forefront the importance of generation differences and uneven distribution of cultural capital and musical competence.
Keywords: Bekanntheitsgrad, Disziplin, familiarity, Geschmack (kulturell), Kunst, Musikologie, Soziologie 2001
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(2001): Embarrassment in Consumer Purchase. The Roles of Social Presence and Purchase Familiarity: Table 1. In: Journal of Consumer Research 28 (3), S. 473-481. DOI: 10.1086/323734
Abstract: Two field studies investigate the importance of social presence (real and imagined) and familiarity with the purchase act in producing embarrassment in the context of an embarrassing product purchase. The results indicate that awareness of a social presence during purchase selection and commitment, whether real or imagined, is a motivating factor in creating embarrassment for the consumer. Further, our results show that the more familiar consumers are with an embarrassing product purchase, the less embarrassed they are likely to feel. Familiarity with an embarrassing product purchase is also shown to have implications for the effect of social presence. That is, familiarity with purchase acts as a moderator for the relationship of real social presence and embarrassment by reducing the influence of the social presence. In the context of an imagined social presence, purchase familiarity is shown to reduce the likelihood of imagining. These findings are integrated into a discussion of the theoretical implications and the potential avenues for future research in the area.
2000
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(2000): Systemische Therapie und Supervision in multikulturellen Kontexten. In: System Familie 13 (1), S. 3-13. DOI: 10.1007/s004910050002
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004910050002 Abstract: Der systemische Ansatz ist für multikulturelle Beratungskontexte besonders nützlich. Es werden verschiedene Vorgehensweisen vorgeschlagen, die Zugang zu den Personen anderer Kulturkreise ermöglichen. Eine besondere „Verfremdung“ ergibt sich aus der Verbindung des Textes mit den Schriften eines arabischen Mystikers: sieben „Tälern der Erkenntnis“ werden sieben Problembereiche systemischen Handeln in multikulturellen Kontexten zugeordnet. Theoretische Aspekte werden diskutiert (spez. das Konzept der Erwartungs-Erwartungen), die Übertragung verschiedener systemischer Methoden (z.B. zirkuläres Fragen, Genogrammarbeit, Joining usw.) auf dieses Feld wird beschrieben und in zahlreichen Beispielen erläutert.
Keywords: Bekanntheitsgrad, Beratung, Erwartungen, Erwartungserwartung, Formalisierbarkeit, Fremdheit, Interaktion, Intercultural, Intercultural communication, Interkulturalität, Kultur, Kulturkontakt, Perspektivenpluralismus, Psychologie, Sozialer Raum / Kultureller Kontext, Systemischer Ansatz, systemisches Handeln, Systemtheorie 1997
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(1997): Using Greetings to Teach Cultural Understanding. In: The Modern Language Journal 81 (3). DOI: 10.2307/329309
Abstract: Sociolinguistic journals and books are inundated with issues regarding greetings and forms of address. In these works, the major concern has been to analyze the word or wards used to refer to someone greeted. Others have also looked at issues of familiarity, reciprocity, politeness, gestures, and respect in regard to greetings. However, despite this sizable literature, little or nothing has been done with respect to cultural information provided in the language of greetings. This paper looks at the role Yoruba greetings play in understanding the culture of the speakers. It also illustrates that Yoruba greetings do more than establish an atmosphere of sociability; they also communicate cultural information and serve as value reinforcement for participants and observers. Therefore, teaching greetings in Yoruba goes beyond teaching the meanings of the greetings. It also involves teaching Yoruba learners the link between words and cultural content. Various examples of greetings and accounts of personal experience could be useful in methods courses to illustrate the interaction of words and actions in a cultural frame.
1996
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(1996): The Experience of Perceptual Familiarity. In: Philosophy 71 (275), S. 83-100. DOI: 10.1017/S0031819100053274
Abstract: Psychologists have recently turned their attention to the nature of the recognition involved in judgment of familiarity. It has been suggested taht, apart from judging a stimulus to be familiar when one is able to recall a context in which it was previously perceived, subjects are also able to judge that something is familiar merely on the basis of its faster perceptual processing.