Violations
Violating social norms can have a positive or negative effect on persuasion. Usually people use language to conform to social norms; but a person's intentional or accidental deviation from expected behavior can have either a positive or negative reaction.Language Expectancy Theory assumes that language is a rule-governed system and people develop expectations concerning the language or message strategies employed by others in persuasive attempts (Burgoon, 1995). Expectations are a function of cultural and sociological norms and preferences arising from cultural values and societal standards or ideals for competent communication.
When observed, behavior is preferred over what was expected or when a listener's initial negative evaluation causes a speaker to conform more closely to the expected behavior. The deviation can be seen as positive, but when language choice or behavior is perceived as unacceptable or inappropriate behavior, the violation is negatively received and can inhibit the receptivity to a persuasive appeal.
Positive violations occur (b) when negatively evaluated sources conform more closely than expected to cultural values or situational norms. This can result in overly positive evaluation of the source and change promoted by the actor (Burgoon, 1995).
Negative violations, resulting from language choices that lie outside socially acceptable behavior in a negative direction, produce no attitude or behavior change in receivers.
Read more about this topic: Language Expectancy Theory
Famous quotes containing the word violations:
“There is no end to the violations committed by children on children, quietly talking alone.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“Stories of law violations are weighed on a different set of scales in the Black mind than in the white. Petty crimes embarrass the community and many people wistfully wonder why Negroes don’t rob more banks, embezzle more funds and employ graft in the unions.... This ... appeals particularly to one who is unable to compete legally with his fellow citizens.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)
“All violations of essential privacy are brutalizing.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)