紀要論文

依頼に対する回答の仕方が話し手の性格印象に与える影響 : 回答表現の直接性と間の取り方に注目して

How a speaker's manner of responding to a request affects the impression of the speaker: the effects of directness and delay in response

jpn

04412486

https://doi.org/10.15002/00006754

法政大学文学部

60

147

158

2010-03-10

Version of Record

The present study investigated how impressions about the personality of a speaker are affected by the way he or she responds to a request in spoken dialogues. Short spoken dialogues in Japanese were recorded in which one person makes a request and the other either complies with the request or refuses it. The responses to the request (e.g.,"Can I borrow your book?") were expressed in one of two ways: directly (e.g.,"Sure.") or indirectly (e.g.,"Don' t forget to return it."). Furthermore, the dialogues were edited so that the responses were uttered: (1) immediately following the request, (2) following a silent pause, or (3) following a filled pause (filled with a filler expression such as "umm"). Japanese listeners were asked to rate the personality impression of the respondent with respect to a set of adjectives. When factor analysis was carried out on the listeners’ratings, two main underlying factors were obtained: "friendliness" and "social desirability". Further analyses revealed the following results. To give a "friendly"impression, compliance to a request is best expressed directly without pause. However, refusal of a request is best expressed after a filled pause, presumably to convey to the requester that the respondent deliberated over the response. As for social desirability, the most socially desirable way to respond is to respond immediately without pausing, regardless of whether one can comply with the request or has to refuse it. Results suggest that impressions about a speaker are affected by various factors pertaining to what the speaker says as well as how he or she says it; these factors include the degree of directness of response, whether or not the speaker pauses before responding, and whether the pause is filled or silent.

Article

AN00226157