Positive Social Acts: A Metapragmatic Exploration of the Brighter and Darker Sides of Sociability

Sociability is friendly behavior that is performed by a variety of positive social acts that are aimed to establish, promote, or restore relationships. However, attempts to achieve these interactional goals can fail or backfire; moreover, interactants may abuse these strategies. A pragmatic focus on positive social acts illuminates the ways they succeed in promoting sociability and why they sometimes fail to enhance social relations. This Element analyzes positive social actions receiving p...