Teasing as a means of social influence

“Your Lunch Pail Is Silly!” Children’s and Teachers’ Views on Teasing

“…Recipients' motivations for responding to a tease appear to be largely dependent on the nature of the tease, the social context involved, the relationship between the participants, the intentions of the teaser, and the recipient's interpretation of the tease and the teaser's goals (Alberts et al, 1996;Mills & Babrow, 2003;Pawluk, 1989). Upon engaging in a teasing scenario, recipients must decipher the meaning of the tease in question and plan a response strategy that is consistent with the social context and socially accepted behavioral norms.…”

“…Teasing is also a means to manage interpersonal affections, to indicate liking and admiration of another, and/or to negotiate or explore establishing relationships (e.g., tickling another Downloaded by [217.13.197.5] at 04:35 05 June 2016 individual of the opposite sex). Teasing also serves several other functions, such as expressing emotions to peers in a socially acceptable manner (e.g., complimenting same-sex peers about their appearance through the use of a tease), maintaining group solidarity and boundaries (e.g., using a tease to deter an individual from exiting a group, or using a tease to shun nongroup members), influencing or upholding a current identity or creating new identities (e.g., teasing to point out non-normative characteristics in an attempt to influence change), and influencing the emotional state of another individual (e.g., teasing to hurt or upset another individual, or teasing to relieve tension in a situation) (Mills & Babrow, 2003).…”

“…Teasers appear to tease others in an attempt to accomplish goals of aggression, humor, or social influence (Mills & Babrow, 2003), whereas recipients' responses to teasing perhaps are guided by the primary purpose of "saving face" and/or fitting in with social norms associated with such behavior (Goffman, 1967).…”

“…Teasing is used to achieve a wide variety of social communication purposes and is most prominently used as a means of accomplishing goals of aggression, humor, and for attaining social influence over another (Mills & Babrow, 2003). Specifically, the act of teasing has been identified in a wide variety of interpersonal relationships as a communicative strategy used by individuals of all ages to pursue a variety of instrumental, relational, identity, and arousal management goals (Mills & Babrow, 2003).…”

“…Specifically, the act of teasing has been identified in a wide variety of interpersonal relationships as a communicative strategy used by individuals of all ages to pursue a variety of instrumental, relational, identity, and arousal management goals (Mills & Babrow, 2003). Teasing is reportedly used, constructively and destructively, as a strategy to modify or shape socially undesirable behavior of another individual (e.g., teasing a peer or classmate about his disruptive classroom behavior in a subtle attempt to get him to change that behavior, or teasing a peer to engage in potentially wrongful behavior through peer pressure).…”