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Verbal Rough-and-Tumble Play in Adolescents Interactions With - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Verbal Rough-and-Tumble Play in Adolescents Interactions With - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Verbal Aggression and Verbal Rough-and-Tumble Play in Adolescents Interactions With Siblings and Friends Ganie B. DeHart, Leslie Cohoon, and Sana A. Shakeel SUNY Geneseo Acknowledgments Data collection supported by grants from the Geneseo
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Aggression & Rough-and-Tumble Play (RTP)
In early childhood, physical aggression and
physical RTP are both common, especially among boys.
Pelligrini and others have found plentiful physical
RTP among boys in early adolescence.
By mid- to late adolescence, verbal RTP may
become increasingly common, especially in the form of verbal irony (both sarcasm and jocularity).
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Current Study
Exploratory analysis of:
adolescents’ general verbal aggression
toward siblings and friends and
their playful and aggressive use of verbal
irony with the same partners.
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Main research issues
Distinguishing between verbal aggression
and verbal RTP
Gender differences in use and nature of
verbal aggression and verbal RTP
Context and purpose of verbal aggression
and verbal RTP
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Method
Originated in adolescent follow-up of
longitudinal sibling-friend study (SPRG).
Data on expanded adolescent sample
currently being collected.
Ongoing—to date, ~ 50 families have been
visited; 40 have been coded.
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Method (cont.)
Target adolescents age 17 Videotaped at home making brownies with one
partner (sib/friend), pizza with the other
Targets half male, half female Sibs half same-sex, half mixed-sex; half 2 years
- lder, half 2 years younger.
Friends same-age, same-sex.
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Method (cont.)
Videotapes transcribed and coded for
instances of verbal aggression and verbal irony.
Verbal aggression = utterances whose literal
meaning is clearly intended to hurt or bother a listener
Verbal irony = utterances in which a
speaker intentionally says one thing but means another
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Types of Verbal Aggression
Verbal acts (insults, derogatory comments,
name-calling, unpleasant or mean descriptions of the partner, abusive remarks, taunts, reprimands, reproaches, mimicking, mocking)
Verbal threats of physical force
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Verbal Irony
Speaker intentionally says one thing but
means another; underlying meaning differs from surface meaning.
Way of conveying meaning indirectly. Often signaled by changes in
intonation/pitch:
- higher or lower than normal pitch
- sing-song intonation
- exaggerated articulation
- slower or faster than normal speech
- obvious imitation of another’s style of speech
- “Air quotes”
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Types of Verbal Irony
Sarcasm— a form of irony that appears
stinging but may or may not actually be intended as aggression
Jocularity—a form of irony that involves
more more light-hearted, humorous teasing
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Verbal Irony Intent (aggressive vs. playful)
Presence/absence of overt hostility and
intent to harm.
Similar to distinction between aggression
and rough-and-tumble play
Based on affective cues (facial expression,
tone of voice, etc.), response of partner, social context
Note that aggressive verbal irony is a special
case of verbal aggression.
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Communicative function
Distancing speaker from utterance Affiliative/bonding/solidarity—often
involves mocking third party
Dominance/one-upping Covering embarrassment/awkwardness Problem of multiple functions
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Verbal Aggression/engaged minute
Sib Friend 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 Girls with sisters Girls with brothers Boys with sisters Boys with brothers
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Sarcastic utterances/engaged minute
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Sarcastic utterances with aggressive intent (%)
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Functions of Sarcasm with Sibs
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Functions of Sarcasm with Friends
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Conclusions
Adolescents are adept at both verbal aggression and
verbal RTP, but use them in different social contexts and for different social purposes.
Adolescents engage in both with both sibs and friends,
but in different ways and to different degrees.
Noticeable gender differences in the use of both—
target and sibling gender both matter.
Girls and boys appear to have somewhat different