SzczepekReed2020

From emcawiki
Jump to: navigation, search
SzczepekReed2020
BibType ARTICLE
Key SzczepekReed2020
Author(s) Beatrice Szczepek Reed
Title Reconceptualizing mirroring: Sound imitation and rapport in naturally occurring interaction
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA
Publisher
Year 2020
Language English
City
Month
Journal Journal of Pragmatics
Volume 167
Number
Pages 131–151
URL Link
DOI 10.1016/j.pragma.2020.05.010
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

Download BibTex

Abstract

This study interrogates the frequently made claim that mirroring behavior is directly linked to interpersonal rapport. The paper proposes a more nuanced conceptualization of the positive effect of mirroring, showing it to be underpinning not affiliation as such but instead speakers' joint commitment to a common interactional cause. The analysis of naturally occurring talk shows that sound imitation is primarily an affiliation-neutral resource that facilitates the progression of interaction. The paper argues that socially embedded mirroring behavior is more than a behavioral manifestation of the motor resonance described in social neuroscience. Mirroring as part of jointly achieved talk is one of several mechanisms for conversational participants to establish progressivity, that is, trajectories of social action, sequence and stance. The data also show that sound mirroring, when it is part of naturally occurring interaction, is not automatic, but that participants choose to mirror, or not. It is proposed that socially situated imitation is reconceptualized as facilitating social collaboration and the joint achievement of interaction more broadly, rather than empathy or rapport in a narrow sense. Such a reconceptualization of mirroring allows us to describe more accurately how humans build sociality.

Notes