Language and power: an empirical analysis of linguistic strategies used in superior–subordinate communication
✍ Scribed by David A. Morand
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2000
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 136 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0894-3796
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Importing the anthropological, sociolinguistic theory of `politeness' into the domain of organizational studies, this article presents results of a laboratory study that illustrates how power is communicated through speci®c linguistic gestures dierentially used by superiors and subordinates throughout daily interchange. The approach taken illustrates how language is amenable to quantitative, as opposed to sheerly qualitative analysis. Contributions of politeness theory to the study of organizational communication, of in¯uence tactics, the distortion of communication in hierarchical relations, and the presumed egalitarianism associated with programmes of workplace participation, are discussed.