Power Hierarchies

• Every speaker fits into the power hierarchy as our superior, our equal or our subordinate. In a job interview, the potential employer is the superior and the job seeker is the subordinate; in a classroom, the teacher is superior and the students are subordinate. In a store, customers are superior and clerks are subordinate. Older people are considered superior to younger people, and children are subordinate to adults.
  
  

Terms of Address

• Our very identity shifts according to our relationship with the person with whom we are speaking. The same individual, Rebecca V. Smith, may be "Ma'am" to a store clerk, "Professor Smith" to her students, "Becky" to her mother, "Sweetheart" to her husband and "Mommy" to her child. Whereas doctors (superior) often address patients (subordinate) by first name, patients rarely reciprocate. We address elder citizens (superior) with a title of respect --- Mr. Mackenzie, Sir, Ma'am, Mrs. Howell --- but we use first names (in English) with subordinates and equals.
  
  

Greetings

• A speaker who opens a formal gathering with "Good afternoon" may greet his kids with "Hi" or his friends on the basketball court with "What's up?" When introduced to superiors, we opt for "It's a pleasure to meet you" instead of "How ya doin'?" Note that even our pronunciation is affected by power relationships. In an effort to put our best linguistic foot forward, we steer clear of "gonna" or "wanna" when speaking with superiors.
  
  

Directness

• "Come, Spot!" We rarely bark such orders at fellow humans unless a parent (superior) tells a child (subordinate), "Clean your room." A boss may say, "Bring me the Thompson file" with or without "please" depending on mood, situation and personality, but subordinates do not give direct imperative commands to their superiors. A student (subordinate) is likely to say to a professor (superior), "I was wondering if you would be able to write me a letter of recommendation."
  
  

Politeness

• People in subordinate roles must be more polite than their superiors; they feel less free to assert themselves in conversation and to use slang and swear words. Store clerks (subordinate) address customers (superior) with the ever-so-polite "May I help you?" Superiors are also more likely to barge into conversations. An analysis of the taped interactions between disgraced former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon (superior) and his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman (subordinate), reveals that Nixon interrupts Haldeman 23 times in 20 minutes, while Haldeman interrupts Nixon only twice. Nixon also uses profanity 23 times as opposed to two swear words uttered by Haldeman in that time period. (See the transcripts and analysis at www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/discourse.html.)