The act of paying compliments as a tool of persuasion strategies in interpersonal communication
The aim of this article is to show how the act of paying compliments may be used as a tool of persuasion strategies. The author points to the most important in the context of this topic differences between persuasion and manipulation, presents determinants of a prototypical act of paying compliments and determinants of the act of paying compliments in the capacity of manipulation and persuasion. The main subjects of the study here are those features of a compliment which make it a tool usable in persuasion. By analyzing authentic, real life statements, the author shows ways of using compliments as a means to influence the interaction partner and discuss the factors that decide about its persuasive effectiveness the issue of interlocutors’ “face” and the infl uence on interpersonal bonds, among others. To analyze the act of complimenting in this article the following tools — based on cognitive linguistics research — are being used, among others: theory of categorization based on prototype, Lakoff’s radial category model and Johnson and Talmy’s force dynamics model.