"When you call me that, smile!" - How norms for politeness, interaction styles, and aggression work together in Southern culture

Norms for politeness may actually promote violence in the U.S South. Wherea s northerners may have behavioral rituals in which they give and receive sm all doses of hostility to regulate conflict, southerners seem not to. in tw o laboratory experiments, southerners were less clear than northerners in b oth sending and receiving signs of hostility. In Study I, southerners initi ally showed little reaction to an annoying confederate only to end with bur sts of anger far more sudden and more severe than northerners ever showed. In Study 2, as subjects watched objectively dangerous situations unfold, so utherners were less sensitive to cues of hostility than were northerners. A nd in Study 3, consistent with southern politeness norms inhibiting effecti ve conflict resolution, it was shown that friendly, helpful cities had diff erent patterns of argument-related violence in the North and in the South. Results suggest a cycle in which norms for politeness and for violence can reinforce each other.