"When You Call Me That, Smile!" How Norms for Politeness, Interaction Styles, and Aggression Work Together in Southern Culture
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1999
Keywords
Violence, Anger, Politeness, Hostility, Social interaction, Serenity, Rituals, Demography, Friendship
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.2307/2695863
Abstract
Norms for politeness may actually promote violence in the US. South. Whereas northerners may have behavioral rituals in which they give and receive small doses of hostility to regulate conflict, southerners seem not to. In two laboratory experiments, southerners were less clear than northerners in both sending and receiving signs of hostility. In Study 1, southerners initially showed little reaction to an annoying confederate only to end with bursts of anger far more sudden and more severe than northerners ever showed. In Study 2, as subjects watched objectively dangerous situations unfold, southerners were less sensitive to cues of hostility than were northerners. And in Study 3, consistent with southern politeness norms inhibiting effective conflict resolution, it was shown that friendly, helpful cities had different patterns of argument-related violence in the North and in the South. Results suggest a cycle in which norms for politeness and for violence can reinforce each other.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Social Psychology Quarterly, v. 62, no. 3, p. 257-275
Scholar Commons Citation
Cohen, Dov; Vandello, Joseph A.; Puente, Sylvia; and Rantilla, Adrian K., ""When You Call Me That, Smile!" How Norms for Politeness, Interaction Styles, and Aggression Work Together in Southern Culture" (1999). Psychology Faculty Publications. 2291.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/2291
