Projects per year
Abstract
Complimenting is a valuable skill in mental health care. Today, several clinical models view positive reinforcement as beneficial for the client's process of change; however, they ignore the ambiguous nature of complimenting in social interaction. Drawing on a data set of 29 video-recorded mental health rehabilitation group meetings, and using conversation analysis as the method, we qualitatively analyzed the range of purposes served by positive assessments doing complimenting. Our results showed that compliments were used for 1) encouraging members to participate in the community, 2) increasing the pressure on members to respond, 3) closing down topics that were not relevant for discussion at that moment, and 4) generating exclusion and preparing a member for a negative decision. Our findings demonstrate that not all compliments serve straightforwardly positive interactional goals, as they are used for advancing mental-health professionals' own agendas. Moreover, due to the positive nature of the compliments per se, it is difficult for compliment recipients to resist the functions that compliments are designed to serve. The study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of what might constitute genuinely positive reinforcement in the continually changing context of moment-by-moment social interaction.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Pragmatics |
Volume | 177 |
Pages (from-to) | 224-236 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISSN | 0378-2166 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2021 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Fields of Science
- Compliment
- Conversation analysis
- ENGLISH
- Group interaction
- Mental health
- Positive assessment
- Professional interaction
- SEQUENCES
- 5141 Sociology
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Participation, joint decision-making, and social interaction deficits
Stevanovic, M. (Project manager), Tuhkanen, S. (Participant), Valkia, K. M. (Participant) & Valkeapää, T. (Participant)
01/01/2018 → 31/12/2020
Project: University of Helsinki Three-Year Research Project
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Social inclusion, interaction, and mental illness
Lindholm, C. (Project manager), Stevanovic, M. (Principal Investigator), Weiste, E. (Principal Investigator) & Valkeapää, T. (Participant)
01/09/2016 → 31/08/2021
Project: Research project