Save

Conditional Promises and Threats in Germany, China, and Tonga: Cognition and Emotion

In: Journal of Cognition and Culture
Authors:
Sieghard Beller Department of Psychology, Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, University of Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany

Search for other papers by Sieghard Beller in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Andrea Bender Department of Psychology, Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, University of Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany

Search for other papers by Andrea Bender in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Jie Song Department of Psychology, Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, University of Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany

Search for other papers by Jie Song in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
View More View Less
Download Citation Get Permissions

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institution

Purchase

Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

$34.95

Abstract

Conditional promises and threats are speech acts that aim at changing another person's behavior according to one's own goals. They combine several components on different levels: goals and incentives/penalties on the motivational level, formulations on the linguistic level, obligations on the deontic level, action sequences on the behavioral level, and affective responses on the emotional level. In a cross-cultural study – comparing Germany, China, and the Kingdom of Tonga – we examined the extent to which the cognitive understanding of conditional promises and threats on the various levels is shared across cultures. The results support conceptual universality, but also show that the different components are specifically affected by cultural conventions and values that shape communication styles, moral rules, and attribution tendencies.

Content Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 485 93 16
Full Text Views 206 29 0
PDF Views & Downloads 98 32 0