ABSTRACT
The infrequency of this response type in the United States is consistent with the work of other researchers (Herbert 1988; Chen 1993). By using this response type, Speaker2 clearly and directly disagrees with the judgment of Speaker1, thus violating both Pomerantz’ (1978) Principle I: Agree with and/or accept compliment and Leech’s (1983) Agreement Principle. Americans’ preference for not using this response type suggests that, out of all the response types, it may be the most damaging to the solidarity of the relationship between Speaker1 and Speaker2, more damaging, for example, than agreeing with Speaker1 and thus praising oneself, a response type that made up 14 per cent of this sample.
