“Your hair looks great”: Cultural, social and situational variation in the use of compliments

Abstract

In the framework of a larger research project dedicated to the analysis of cultural, social and situational variation of (im)politeness in Spanish and English speakers, this paper analyses the existence of possible patterns of variation in the use of compliments, as well as how these variation factors intersect and modulate each other, or the possible existence of cross-cultural trends. Our results seem to deny the widespread opinion about the clearly superior weight of compliments in Spanish versus English culture, although they reveal culturally different patterns of use; on the level of social variation, the mainly feminine profile of this speech act is confirmed; and, finally, on the level of situational variation, it is verified that the more formal the context, the less frequent compliments are, with important differentiating nuances, however, depending on the culture and sex of the speaker.