Da. Morand, DOMINANCE, DEFERENCE, AND EGALITARIANISM IN ORGANIZATIONAL INTERACTION - A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF POWER AND POLITENESS, Organization science, 7(5), 1996, pp. 544-556
Organizational literature has long presumed that power is communicated
and enacted through behaviors exchanged at the level of face-to-face
interaction. Little research, however, has investigated this aspect of
power. The author explores how power is embedded in manners of speech
exchanged in everyday interaction among superiors and subordinates. H
e draws upon the sociolinguistic theory of ''politeness''. Politeness,
linguistic behaviors used to demonstrate regard and consideration for
others, is hypothesized to be sensitive to the social distribution of
power. Low power actors are most likely to use linguistic politeness
behaviors because such behaviors minimize the possibility of conflict
with superiors. Results of a laboratory study confirm that politeness
behaviors are sensitive to the distribution of formal authority in org
anizations. When superiors use politeness, they are more likely than s
ubordinates to employ a subtype of politeness that demonstrates consid
eration by intimating social familiarity and camaraderie. The hypothes
is that egalitarian values moderate the overall effect of power polite
ness is not supported, perhaps because of the constraints of the exper
imental situation. Overall, the study demonstrates how abstractions su
ch as authority and equality can be measured in terms of the manners o
f comportment that actors bring to bear on one another in face-to-face
contexts. Given the possibility that egalitarianism can be operationa
lized at a linguistic level of analysis, the findings have important r
amifications for the study of the presumed status leveling associated
with programs of workplace participation. The study broadly shows how
sociolinguistic perspectives can contribute to our understanding of or
ganizational phenomena.