Sex-based differences in compliment behavior

Abstract

Sex-based differences in the form of English compliments and in the frequencies of various compliment response types are discussed. Based on a corpus of 1,062 compliment events, several differences in the form of compliments used by women and men are noted. Further, it is found that compliments from men are generally accepted, especially by female recipients, whereas compliments from women are met with a response type other than acceptance. These findings are set within a broader discussion of male–female differences in speech and the sociology of compliment work. Parallels are drawn between these sex-based differences and differences in norms for national varieties of English relating to the function and frequency of compliments as speech acts and to different response types elicited by diverse functional exploitations of compliment formulas in discourse. (Sex-based differences in language use, socioprag-matics, compliments/compliment responses, ethnography of speaking)

Different Strategies of Compliment Responses Used by Iranian EFL Students and Australian English Speakers

“…Wolfson & Manes 1980;Wolfson, Nessa 1981) it was noted that one of the most striking features of compliments in American English is their almost total lack of originality". Examining a corpus of approximately 700 compliments, they categorized compliment functions into 4 compliment actions and 5 compliment responses as follows (Herbert, 1990 c) Questioning or Request reassurance / repetition "Do you really like them?" d) Return "So"s yours" e) Scale down / Downgrade "It"s really quite old" 3) Reject "A: You look good and healthy B: I feel fat" 4) No acknowledgement (addressee responds with an irrelevant comment or gives no response) 5) Request Interpretation (Addressee interprets the compliment as a request such as: "You want to borrow this one too?"…”

On the Pragmatic Patterns of Chinese College English Learners’ Compliment Responses

“…Manes (1983), Wolfson and Manes (1981), Herbert (1990) studied the compliment behaviors in American English. Holmes (1986) studied the compliment behaviors in New Zealand English.…”

“…Although there are few researches about the influence of gender variable in compliment speech act, Holmes (1988) and Herbert (1990)'s research investigated this topic in great details. In Holmes's research, based on the complimenting behaviour in New Zealand, differences in the way women and men use compliments and compliment responses are studied.…”

“…The results showed that the differences in response type frequencies between men and women are more impressive than the differences in compliment. For example, female recipients tent to accept compliments from males, whereas compliments from Holmes (1988), Herbert (1989Herbert ( , 1990)'s researches could reveals influences of social status on compliment responses. In Holmes's research, complimenters tended to focus on recipient's skills or performance when participants of the conversation in different status.…”

Analisis Terjemahan Tindak Tutur Memuji (Compliment) Pada Subtitle Film Twilight Series Dan Kualitas Terjemahannya

“…"To express admiration or approval of someone's work/appearance/taste" Manes, 1983;Herbert, 1990;(b). "To establish/confirm/maintain solidarity" Manes and Wolfson, 1981;Wolfson, 1989;(c).…”