White lies telling in lebanese discourse. (c2011)

Abstract

Western research on white lies-telling had mainly focused on the conceptualization of the notion of white lies by children and teenagers. Research dedicated to the analysis of white lies-telling in adult discourse is relatively limited in number and scope. Therefore, this study aims at filling this existing gab by investigating white lies-telling behavior in Lebanese every day discourse. The study adopted Camden et al. (1984) motivational category system to unravel the different motivations and communicative intentions that govern the use of white lies-telling in Lebanon in different social settings. To this end, DCT and questionnaires were administered to 50 female and 50 male undergraduate college students, which replicated the reward category system proposed by Camden et al. To increase the reliability of the findings, 10 service encounters (5 females and 5 males) were recorded and analyzed to examine the extent to which adult Lebanese use white lies as a form of facework. Results of the DCT and questionnaire showed that female participants were more inclined to use white lies in their every day discourse than male participants in addition to marginal differences in the social and psychological motivations that compelled females to use white lies. These differences were also documented and analyzed accordingly. On the other hand, the conversation analysis of the service encounters showed supremacy of male participants in displaying politeness strategies and in using white lies as social lubricants, especially, as a part of facework. It is recommended that this research be supported with other research devoted to the study of politeness in the Arab region and to Lebanese social settings in particular.