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Bjornsdottir RT & Rule NO (2017) Emotional Expressions Support the Communication of Social Groups: A Pragmatic Extension of Affective Pragmatics. Psychological Inquiry, 28 (2-3), pp. 186-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840x.2017.1338089
Abstract
Expanding on linguistic frameworks for how speakers use
speech acts to convey a variety of distinct meanings that are
unachievable through words’ denotations alone, Andrea Scarantino (this issue) proposes the theory of affective pragmatics
(TAP) as a means to explain what signalers do with their emo-
tions to nonverbally convey nuance in meaning. The central
tenets of TAP are that emotional expressions express more
than just emotions and that these expressions function as
Speech Act Analogs. Yet, as he suggests in his conclusion, TAP
should extend to other nonlinguistic forms of communication
as well. This proposition is reminiscent of past efforts by other
scholars; such as Birdwhistell’s (1970) attempts to establish a
nonverbal grammar. Yet, unlike those efforts, Scarantino
succeeds by limiting his focus to emotional expressions, which
might lay a foundation that serves as a common ingredient
present throughout other various forms of communication.
Here, we contend that the seeds for this may already exist in
how people use information in emotional expressions to
categorize social groups.
Keywords
emotion expressions; social groups; affective pragmatics
Journal
Psychological Inquiry: Volume 28, Issue 2-3
Status | Published |
---|---|
Funders | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council |
Publication date | 03/07/2017 |
Publication date online | 18/08/2017 |
Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
ISSN | 1047-840X |
eISSN | 1532-7965 |
People (1)
Lecturer in Psychology, Psychology