| The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of politeness responses to in-group statements of prejudice on relationship quality and degree of challenge. Brown and Levinson's (1987) politeness framework of bald on-record, negative politeness, positive politeness, and off-the-record strategies for performing face threatening acts was used for the independent variable of response type. The dependent variables were the degree of challenge and supportiveness of relationship quality of each response type using a repeated measures within-subjects research design. Participants (N = 322) responded to one of three scenarios in which a European American stated a prejudice about another ethnic group, leading to a challenging response from a European American friend. Participants rated the effectiveness of challenge and supportiveness of relationship quality of one individual response in each of the four response types.; Preliminary phase testing demonstrated the equivalence of three scenarios and three individual samples of each response type, and the difference in degree of support and imposition of the four response types. Main phase testing of Hypothesis One revealed that positive politeness strategies were perceived as most supportive of relationship quality, followed by negative politeness, with bald on-record and off-the-record together the least supportive of relationship quality. Hypothesis One was partially supported, since off-the-record was predicted to most support relationship quality. Hypothesis Two tests indicated that negative and positive politeness strategies were equivalent and perceived to be the most effective challenging strategies, followed by bald on-record and off-the-record responses. Hypothesis Two was minimally supported, since bald on-record was predicted to be most effective at challenging the prejudice, followed by negative politeness, positive politeness, and off-the-record, in that order.; Theoretical implications include considering the role of statements of prejudice as face threats, remedial face strategies during relational challenges of prejudice, and communicative competence during challenging interactions. Practical implications for interpersonal interactions include support for relational responsibility, the role of relational dialectics in challenging responses, and the use of politeness responses to maintain relationships while effectively challenging prejudices. Practical organizational implications include a need for skills-based approaches to diversity training and management. Directions for future research are discussed. |
