Linked Life Data

18199841

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18199841

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-1-24
pubmed:abstractText
When people speak, they often insinuate their intent indirectly rather than stating it as a bald proposition. Examples include sexual come-ons, veiled threats, polite requests, and concealed bribes. We propose a three-part theory of indirect speech, based on the idea that human communication involves a mixture of cooperation and conflict. First, indirect requests allow for plausible deniability, in which a cooperative listener can accept the request, but an uncooperative one cannot react adversarially to it. This intuition is supported by a game-theoretic model that predicts the costs and benefits to a speaker of direct and indirect requests. Second, language has two functions: to convey information and to negotiate the type of relationship holding between speaker and hearer (in particular, dominance, communality, or reciprocity). The emotional costs of a mismatch in the assumed relationship type can create a need for plausible deniability and, thereby, select for indirectness even when there are no tangible costs. Third, people perceive language as a digital medium, which allows a sentence to generate common knowledge, to propagate a message with high fidelity, and to serve as a reference point in coordination games. This feature makes an indirect request qualitatively different from a direct one even when the speaker and listener can infer each other's intentions with high confidence.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1091-6490
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
22
pubmed:volume
105
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
833-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2011-9-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
The logic of indirect speech.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Psychology, and Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. pinker@wjh.harvard.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural