Psychophysiology and (im)politeness

This volume highlights cutting-edge research bringing together insights from psychophysiology and (im)politeness studies, showcasing the state of the art and future directions for this interdisciplinary area of study.

The book opens with foundational context on the latest methods from psychophysiology, understood as the field exploring the links between the body and the brain, and their efficacy for (im)politeness research, including fMRI and EEG. While psychophysiology work has been explored in experimental pragmatics, Ruytenbeek points to implications from this work and their potential applications for (im)politeness. The volume presents existing studies using psychophysiological techniques, with a focus on emotional reactions triggered by (im)politeness events. Ruytenbeek reflects on the results of these studies and other recent advances in psychophysiological methods in experimental pragmatics to look ahead to the ways in which they might enhance existing understandings of linguistic (im)politeness.

This innovative book will appeal to students and scholars interested in (im)politeness, in such fields as pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics.