ABSTRACT
In recent years, much research and media attention has focused on negative aspects of teasing, involving primarily teasers bullying teasees (e.g., Irvin, Walker, Noell, Singer, Irvine, Marquez, & Britz, 1992; Walker, Irvin, Noell, & Singer, 1992; Ma, 2001). Consequently, much effort has been directed towards eradicating teasing in local schools and communities through, for example, the development of intervention programs that aim to reduce the incidents of teasing among youth. However, these negative perspectives on teasing may reflect dominant mainstream cultural interpretations and functions of teasing—without necessarily recognizing cultural variations in teasing practices, They may also relate to theoretical and empirical work that conceptualizes teasing and other metaphorical activity as text-based in nature. From such approaches, words and sentences are regarded as encapsulating definitive “meanings” that are understood by all and are transferable across contexts (Bialystok & Hakuta, 1994; Gibbs, 1994).
