Would you trust me please? ling.upenn.edu/~cahern/ Christopher - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Would you trust me please?

ling.upenn.edu/~cahern/ Christopher Ahern and Jason Quinley

University of Pennsylvania and University of T¨ ubingen

July 23, 2013

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 1 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Goals

Model of polite linguistic behavior in requests. What are polite linguistic expressions? How do we use polite expressions? Why do we use polite expressions?

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 2 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Talk Outline

1

Introduction

2

Politeness

3

Trust Games

4

Solutions

5

Conclusions

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 3 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Consider the following...

What are polite expressions?

(1) a. Could you lend me a dollar/euro/franc? b. I would be forever in your debt if you could lend me a dollar/euro/franc. (2) a. Could you lend me 1,000 dollars/euros/francs? b. I would be forever in your debt if you could lend me 1,000 dollars/euros/francs. (3) a. Excuse me Sir/Ma’am, If it isn’t too much trouble, would you be able to tell me the time? b. Could you tell me the time? c. What time is it? d. Tell me the time!

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 4 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Why be polite?

Asymmetry

Individuals possess different aptitudes and abilities.

Scarcity

Resources are limited.

Society

Politeness increases range of interactions between individuals with

• ther-regarding preferences.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 5 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Crucial points for Politeness theory

1

Face

2

Face-threatening acts (FTAs)

3

Strategies to mitigate FTAs

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 6 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Face

What is face?

Brown and Levinson (1978)

Face (Goffman, 1967) consists of an individual’s basic social needs: Negative face: Autonomy Positive face: Acceptance

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 7 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Face

Face Threats

Face-Threatening Acts (FTAs):

An action that threatens an individual’s positive or negative face. Requests threaten negative face Insults threaten positive face

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 8 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Face-threatening acts

Mitigating FTAs

When situations call for it...

...speakers must commit a face-threatening act (FTA). In order to mitigate the weight of a FTA, speakers may use several strategies. Intention Don’t do FTA Do FTA Off Record On Record Redress Negative Politeness Positive Politeness Don’t Redress

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 9 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Face-threatening acts

Threats at Lunch!!!

What to do if you forget your wallet going to lunch:

Don’t do FTA: (Don’t ask for money) Off Record:“Oh no! I forgot my wallet at my hotel!” Negative Politeness:“You don’t have to, but would you mind lending me a bit of money?” Positive Politeness:“Congratulations on your promotion! You really deserve it! You’re the best! Lend me a few dollars.” Don’t Redress:“Give me some money.”

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 10 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Face-threatening acts

Goldilocks and the three FTAs

Too much

“Please, if you could, move out of the way of that speeding car,” “Excuse me Sir/Ma’am, if it’s not too much trouble could tell me the time.”

Too little

“Could you give me a thousand dollars?” “Tell me the time!”

Just right

(Excuse me,) could you tell me the time? Could you find it in your magnificent heart to loan me a thousand dollars? I’d be forever in your debt!

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 11 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Crucial points for Trust Games

1

Game Structure

2

Backward Induction

3

Requests as Trust Games

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 12 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

Trust Games

Consist of...

An Investor and a Trustee. Investor begins with an initial endowment, e, which she can keep or invest any amount of. If she invests the endowment with the Trustee it grows by some positive rate, r. The Trustee must then decide what proportion, p, if any, to return to the Investor.

Backward Induction

Trustee does best when she keeps all money invested. Knowing this, Investor should never invest. Everyone does worse than they could by cooperating. (pr > 1)

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 13 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

Game Structure

I (e,0) T (0,re) (pre,(1−p)re) p e

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 14 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

Requests

Requests as Trust Games (Quinley, 2012)

Asymmetries in abilities lead to requests. Requests involve a loss of face on the part of the requester, and carry a risk that the request will be denied. X can ask (A) or not ask Y (¬A) to grant a request. Y can grant (G) or not grant (¬G) the request.

Requests as Extended Trust Games

X can ask (A) or not ask Y (¬A) to grant a request. Y can grant (G) or not grant (¬G) the request. X can thank (T) Y for granting the request, or not (¬T).

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 15 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

Game Structure

X ¬A Y ¬G X ¬T T G A

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 16 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

Payoff Structure

Costs

cx is the cost to X to achieve desired outcome. cy is cost to Y. (cx > cy) bx is the benefit to X of desired outcome (cx > bx)

Face

A requires face “payment” fr by X Y receives mrfr from A. (mr ≥ 1) T requires face “payment” ft by X Y receives mtft from T. (mt ≥ 1) Benefit outweighs face costs, (fr +ft) > bx

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 17 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

Game Structure

X (bx −cx, 0) ¬A Y (bx −cx −fr, mrfr) ¬G X (bx −fr, mrfr −cy) ¬T (bx −fr −ft, mrfr +mtft −cy) T G A

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 18 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Trust Games

What to expect

Backward Induction

X prefers ¬T to T Ux(¬T) > Ux(T) Y prefers ¬G to ¬T Uy(¬G) > Uy(¬T) X prefers ¬A to ¬G Ux(¬A) > Ux(¬G)

Result

No one should ever make requests because they will never be granted. Yet we can, and do, make polite requests of others. Why is this possible?

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 19 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Crucial points for Solutions

1

Observation

2

Sympathy

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 20 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Observation

Observation

Bateson et al. (2006)

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 21 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Observation

Formulation

New Utility Function

h(A,cx,cy,fr,ft): a function that takes the outcome and the parameters of the request and returns a positive or negative valuation (a postive or negative loss in face): Vi(A) = Ui(A)+h(A,cx,cy,fr,ft) (1)

New Thresholds

EVx(A) > Vx(¬A) (2) EVy(G) > Vy(¬G) (3) Vx(T) > Vx(¬T) (4)

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 22 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Observation

An Example

You see a stranger with arms full of boxes struggling to open a door

X: “Would you mind opening the door for me?” Y: “Sure!”/“No!” X: “Thanks”/... Saying “No!” or being ungrateful cause a loss in face on the part of the unwilling in the estimation of third-party observers. h(G,cx,cy,fr,ft) > h(¬G,cx,cy,fr,ft) h(T,cx,cy,fr,ft) > h(¬T,cx,cy,fr,ft) f > −f (5)

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 23 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Observation

Problem

What about...

...when we interact with strangers without observation? Imagine encountering a stranger struggling to open the door, and no one is around to guilt you into helping.

Conscience is just...

...an “inner voice that tells us that somebody might be looking” (Mencken, 1949)

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 24 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

Sympathy

Homo economicus vs. Homo empathicus

Theoretical (Rabin 1993, Fehr & Schmidt 1999, Levine 1998) Behavioral (Fehr & Schmidt 2003, Camerer 2003) Neurobiological (Fehr 2009)

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 25 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

Formulation

Sympathy (Sally 2000, 2001)

For each agent, there is a distribution, δi ∈ ∆(U), such that ∑j δi(Uj) = 1, which determines how much that agent cares about her own payoffs and those

• f others.

Homo economicus

δi(Uj) = 0 for all j = i.

New utility function

Vi(A) = δi(Ui(A))·Ui(A)+(1−δi(Ui(A)))·Uj(A) This is the limiting case of a single interlocutor.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 26 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

When to thank?

Condition

It suffices for X to prefer T to ¬T for Vx(T) > Vx(¬T), which is true when: δx(Uy) >

1 1+mt

Interpretation

The greater the benefit to Y for thanking, the less X has to care about Y’s payoff to do so.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 27 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

When to grant a request?

Condition

It suffices for Y to prefer T to ¬G for Vy(T) > Vy(¬G), which is true when: δy(Ux) >

(cy−mtft) (cy−mtft)+bx+cx−ft

Interpretation

When cy is low relative to bx and cx, this is very small. The greater the benefit to the other relative to cost, the less sympathy required.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 28 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

Some Examples

You see a stranger with arms full of boxes struggling to open a door

X: “Would you mind opening the door for me?” Y: “Sure!”

You forgot your watch and your phone has died (Asher, 2012)

X: “Excuse me. Could you tell me the time please?” Y: “F*!k you!”

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 29 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

Broader Impact

X (bx −cx, 0) ¬A Y (bx −cx, 0) ¬G X (bx, −cy) ¬T (bx, −cy) T G A

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 30 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

Broader Impact

What happens without face?

System without face boils down to a choice on the part of Y, where granting is better if Vy′(G) > Vy′(¬G), which holds when: δy′(Ux′) > cy cy +bx +cx (6)

Compared to system with face

System with face has lower threshold when δy′(Ux′) > δy(Ux), which is true when: mt >

cy bx+cx

Given that cx > cy and mt ≥ 1, this is always true.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 31 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions Sympathy

The main effect of politeness

What face buys you

A system of requests with polite forms that address face wants requires a lower threshold of other-regarding preferences than one without a means to address face wants. This result can be thought of in two ways:

1

The same requests can be made between more distant individuals.

2

More requests can be made between individuals with a given relationship.

What face gets you

When groups reach a certain size, first- or even second-knowledge of others is hard to come by. Sharing politeness norms acts as an incremental test of a set

• f shared obligations. They are used to build trust at a low level and

eventually lead to cooperation in possibly more substantial endeavors.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 32 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Conclusions

Polite expressions are used to mitigate face-threatening acts. They are used strategically to balance the face wants of the requester and the requestee. Sympathy or other-regarding preferences are necessary to account for all uses. With other-regarding preferences, politeness strategies allow requests and trust between a wider range of individuals and relationship types.

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 33 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

Thanks!

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 34 / 35

Introduction Politeness Trust Games Solutions Conclusions

References

Asher (2012) The Non Cooperative Basis of Implicatures Bateson et al. (2006) Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting Brown & Levinson (1978) Politeness Camerer (2003) Behavioral Game Theory Fehr (2009) Social Preferences and the Brain Fehr & Schmidt (1999) A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation Fehr & Schmidt (2003) Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity: Evidence and Economic Applications Goffman (1967) Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior Levine (1998) Modeling Altruism and Spitefulness in Experiments Quinley(2012) Trust Games as a Model for Requests Rabin (1993) Incorporating Fairness into Game Theory and Economics Sally (2000) A General Theory of Sympathy, Mind-Reading, and Social Interaction, with an Application to the Prisoners’ Dilemma. Sally (2001) On Sympathy and Games

Ahern (UPENN) Would you trust me please? July 23, 2013 35 / 35