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United States International University Social Psychology of Interpersonal Relations Complaining is an area that not much research has been dedicated. This is surprising because everyone complains sometimes and some people seem to complain all the time. We frequently hear others or ourselves complain about the weather, a test they have just taken, about their jobs, their economic status, traffic, other?s behaviors, etc. So often are these remarks and expressions of dissatisfaction that we don?t notice how much these expressions are used. And although complaints are a common feature of our everyday lives, it is surprising the little attention that has been paid to this topic. The sources I used to get more information about this topic all seem to have gotten their information primarily from consumer psychology, which have identified sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with consumer products. Another source frequently used is from the research that has taken place in Health Psychology with the factors that influence people expressing physical complaints. Before I try to summarize and explain the recent research that has emerged around the topic of complaints and complaining we have to start from the basics. What exactly is complaining? Why do people complain? Why some more than others? What are the benefits and consequences of complaining? If any? About what do people complain? How do people react to a complainer, and what determines the response? These are hopefully some of the questions that will be addressed in this paper. Webster?s Third New International Dictionary defines complaining as ?expressing discontent, dissatisfaction, protest, resentment, or regret.? From this definition, one might conclude that complaining could be best described as ?a behavioral expression of an unfavorable attitude toward an object, person, or situation.? (Kowalski, 179) If we think of complaining this way we could say that complaining is an active or behavioral expression of dissatisfaction with dissatisfaction being one?s expectations not being met. So if one expects something and these expectations are not met, one will be dissatisfied and the likelihood of complaining increases. ?However, not all complaints stem from unfavorable attitudes or feelings of dissatisfaction. Often people complain even when they are not subjectively dissatisfied.? ?Many complaints do not reflect people?s true attitudes toward the object or person in question but rather involve attempts to elicit particular interpersonal reactions from others, such as sympathy from others or the avoidance of aversive events.? Taking this into consideration, a more comprehensive definition of a complaint would be ?an expression of dissatisfaction , whether subjectively experienced or not, for the purpose of venting emotions or achieving intrapsychic goals, interpersonal goals, or both. (Kowalski, 180) Briefly I will summarize a theory of complaining and later focus more on the functions and consequences of expressing dissatisfaction. The theory is based on two factors: dissatisfaction threshold and complaining threshold. Dissatisfaction threshold is any variable that influences a person?s subjective experience of dissatisfaction and bears any relationship to this dissatisfaction threshold. In other words, It is how much or how little certain behaviors, objects or situations meet one?s expectations. If it does we can say that the dissatisfaction threshold is high and if it doesn?t, it is low. The complaining threshold is how much or how valuable it is to express dissatisfaction. For example, If a person is completely satisfied with a relationship we can say that the dissatisfaction threshold is high. Here a person is less likely to complain. If this is the case, for example, that an individual is completely satisfied with a relationship but they see that expressing dissatisfaction will nonetheless allow him or her to achieve some desired outcome, we can say that the complaining threshold is low. Again, the likelihood for that person to complain is high. In combination, if both thresholds are high, that individual is very likely not going to complain. On the other hand, if both thresholds are low, chances are that individual is going to express dissatisfaction. (Kowalski, 180) We can see that this is a relatively simple concept, and the existence of both thresholds influencing whether or not we complain, makes the process twofold. ?With one process influencing complaining through the subjective experience of dissatisfaction and the other affecting complaining in the absence of dissatisfaction through the analysis of the subjective utility of complaining.? Self-focus underlies these two thresholds. This is one?s perception in which current events or behaviors are compared with one?s standards for those events or behaviors. When the current events or behaviors exceeds one?s standards, the individual experiences positive affect. The same is when it is the other way around, if the current events or behaviors do not match one?s standards, negative affect is experienced. (Kowalski, 180) In the second example, where the individual experiences negative affectivity, there is an increased motivation to reduce this discrepancy which often leads to complaining. As we will see later complaining also serves to reduce the gap between reality and one?s expectations. ?As with other interpersonal phenomena, complaining appears to operate according to a mini-max principle. When people complain, they want to maximize the rewards to be gained by complaining and minimize the costs associated with complaining. Such a cost-benefit analysis suggests that the utility of complaining is high when the rewards to be gained outweigh the costs of complaining.? A primary cost would be for example, the negative social consequences that complaining brings to the individual. For instance a person that complains a lot might be labeled as a whiner and this put the complainer at risk of being excluded from certain groups or relationships. Basically, in that state of self focus mentioned earlier we evaluate how much discrepancy there is between the current and the expected. If there is, there is a likelihood that the individual will complain. Consequently the perceived utility of complaining would be high. If it is low the individual will most likely inhibit his or her desire to complain. (Kowalski, 181) Just as emotional states, such as anxiety or anger, can result in an intensification of negative affect therefore influencing and facilitating complaining, so can complaining be labeled as an affect-controlling strategy as we will see later in the functions of complaining. For example, If an individual is angry he or she is more likely to complain, as is the case if the individual is angry at a friend, it is more likely that he or she will complain about them. In turn, venting his or her frustrations might be helpful in reducing that anger. Most people assume that complaints are expressed with the purpose of changing or influencing another?s behavior or an aversive situation, this would be called an interpersonal goal. However complaints may also be used to change the complainer?s internal state, this would be called an intrapsychic goal. A complaint may be seen as either interpersonal or intrapsychic, however some complaints may serve both functions. For example, by complaining to change a certain situation (interpersonal function), a person may also make him/herself feel better (intrapsychic function).
The Essay on We should encourage our customers to complain!
Explain what this statement means, how it should be applied, why it should be applied and why a policy of encouraging customer complaints would benefit your organisation, or indeed, any other organisation. It means the organisations puts a high important on satisfying their current and potential customers. Their main goal or objective is to ensure their customers are 100% satisfied with the ...
The Essay on Tips For Teaching High Functioning People With Autism
Tips For Teaching High Functioning People with Autism By Susan Moreno and Carol O'NealThis paper was reprinted with permission of Susan Moreno on the O. A. S. I. S. (Online Asperger's Syndrome Information and Support) 1. People with autism have trouble with organizational skills, regardless of their intelligence and / or age. Even a 'straight A's student with autism who has a photographic memory ...
The Essay on Complain
We all complain about things in our lives, whether it’s our job, people in our lives, little inconveniences, the state of the world… we all like to complain when things are not like we want them to be. It is how we express our unhappiness and dissatisfaction. But shall we complain so much? In my opinion, sometimes we can complain but not often, because complain is not a good way to ...
We should see the functions of complaining to differentiate the difference between interpersonal and intrapsychic functions of complaining, these are, according to Kowalski (185-189), catharsis, self presentational motivations, social comparison processes, and calls for remedial action. At the general level, the first function represents an intrapsychic goal, and the other three functions reflect interpersonal goals. The most common function of complaining is to get people to vent out their frustrations and dissatisfactions. We often hear people say, ?I needed to get that off my chest? when they are complaining about something. In a study made by Alicke et al. (1992), He found this the most frequently cited reason for complaining when a group of students were asked to record all of the times they complained throughout the day. For example, individuals who get stuck in traffic all day, they come home and complain about it. They know that this won?t change the situation but they nonetheless complain to voice their frustration and ?get it off their chest.? (Kowalski 185) This cathartic complaining varies as a function of the individual?s dissatisfaction threshold. For example, the same individual who gets stuck in traffic may in a day where he or she has all the time in the world be unlikely to start complaining in the same way as when they would be in traffic when they are already late for something. In the latter, the dissatisfaction threshold is much lower. ?On the basis of the theoretical model of complaining presented earlier, such a situation should be particularly problematic if this threshold is low. If inhibition results in an intensification of dissatisfaction, thus lowering the dissatisfaction threshold, the desire to complain should be enhanced. Release of the inhibition through complaining should, then, reduce the feelings of dysphoria. However if, if inhibitory processes are still operating or the social costs of complaining are too high, the person will experience even further dissatisfaction.?(Kowalski,185-186) The second function is that of self-presentation. Although most complaints are said to have a cathartic value, the verbalization of these may be facilitated or inhibited by self-representational motives. This is also called impression management, and it involves people?s efforts to appear a certain way in front of others even if it means suppressing certain dissatisfactions one may have. From this perspective complaints are ?voiced to the extent that they allow the individual to influence the impressions that others form of him or her.? The four major categories that are discussed by Kowalski are: Conveying impressions of personal attributes, face saving, outlet for discussing positive events, and self presentational inhibitors of complaining. (Kowalski 186-188) Conveying impressions of personal attributes is the regulating of complaints whether they be inhibiting them or facilitating them to form an impression on others. For example, many complain because by doing so they are creating an impression of similarity by conforming to the opinions and values of those around them. If two people take the same class and one begins to complain about the behaviors of the teacher, the other student may also complain as a means of conforming to the other student?s opinion, thereby inducing liking. People may also complain about certain situations to make others believe that they are knowledgeable in that subject. ?For example, a person might complain about the food or wine at a restaurant to convey the impression that he or she is knowledgeable about foods and wines and very selective in his or her choices.? Alicke at al. suggested that negative evaluators tend to be evaluated more favorably than positive evaluators.(Kowalski, 186) Other people may complain about the actions or behaviors of others to make themselves look superior or intimidating. We could see this in many workplaces where the boss intimidates and criticizes his or her employees behaviors to make him/herself seem superior and to obtain compliance from them. The simple act of complaining may in itself convey an air of superiority. Through these kinds of complaints we can give the message that our expectations are higher and are not being met. This gives the message that one has high standards. (Kowalski, 186) Face saving is the third function of complaining. This of course influences the opinions that others have on them. For example, If you set out to do something and for some reason or other you fail to accomplish it, this may form a negative impression on others about you. But if you complain about it you can save face. Complaints motivated by face-saving come in a number of flavors and disguises. (Kowalski,186) Blasting is the act of putting down others in an effort to make yourself look better. We can clearly see this in the relationship between siblings and parents. When a child is getting blamed for something or is being corrected for a certain behavior, he or she may point out the siblings faults as a means of shifting responsibility and saving face with the parent. By pointing out and derogating the behaviors of the sibling, the child looks better and more obedient. In an effort to save face complaints may also come as excuses. These are often used to explain past, present and future behaviors. They could also be used to protect one?s self esteem by ?shifting casual attributes from internal, central aspects of the self to internal, less central aspects of the self or to external causes.? They can also be used in the service of self-presentational goals. In short what complaints can do for you in the form of excuses is to make the individual making the excuse not responsible for an undesired behavior. In this way, he or she may not only defend against negative impressions but also receive positive outcomes in the form of attention or sympathy. For example, if you set out to win a race but fail to do so, you might save face by complaining about the weather conditions, your physical self, the others cheating, etc. (Kowalski, 186-187) Another way that an individual may be able to save face is by complaining about symptoms. ?Complaints about discomfort provide individuals with an excuse for possible failure on an evaluative task and, therefore, potentially alter the evaluative implications of their behavior in the eyes of others.? For example, If an individual complains of an illness such as being hung over before making a presentation, that individual has set up an excuse in the event of a possible poor performance on that particular presentation, in turn he or she has affected the impressions that others form of them. Illness is the most popular excuse but others are depression and social anxiety. ?Benefits to be gained from illness include increased attention from significant other persons; relief from social, financial, and work obligations; and the displaced expression of dissatisfaction with one?s life circumstances.? Interestingly Alicke et al. found that doctors say that 75% of the cases they see are some form of Psychosomatic illnesses. We could then assume that these are complaints are to gain secondary gains such as the ones mentioned above like attention and sympathy. (Kowalski,187) Another function of complaints is the outlet for discussing positive events. For example, if you and your friend apply for the same job and you get it and he doesn?t knowing that he or she wanted it more than you, by complaining about it you can find a socially acceptable avenue for discussing this positive event. You can complain about the long hours or the fines you must pay, this way you are discussing this positive event with your friend without hurting his or her feelings. By complaining about it allows you to acknowledge and talk about your getting this new job. (Kowalki,187) Still another function is that of social comparison process. ?many behaviors are performed to obtain information about the thoughts and feelings of others. In this way, people can test the The last function of complaining discussed is that of calling for accounts. This is relatively simple, by complaining about someone?s behavior yvalidity of and support for their own ideas, a process referred to as social comparison. Complaining may be one behavior that provides social comparison information to the complainer.? For example, if a person complains of the difficulty after performing a certain task to the others involved, he or she acquires social comparison information about the other people?s perception of the same task. This however is not always beneficial. If that same person thinks that by complaining about the task others will think less of him, he or she may choose to not voice his or her complaints. (Kowalski, 188) ou are probably attempting to change or modify their behavior. ?Used as calls for accounts, complaints may be viewed as manipulative tools by which the complainer can attempt to get others to engage in desired behaviors or not to perform undesired behaviors.? For example, If you constantly complain about another being late you are actively attempting to induce the other to arrive earlier. (Kowalski, 189) There are of course consequences for every complaint, for both the complainer and his or her audience. The first is expressed in a saying that they have in social psychology, ?saying is believing.? This is saying that eventually the complainer could start to believe his or her complaints. For example, if an individual chronically complains about a certain situation whether it is true or not for the complainer, they could start believing the complaint. We already saw that on some occasions people complain not because they are dissatisfied with the object of the complaint but because complaining serves other goals, such as being liked, or receiving attention or sympathy. (Kowalski, 188-189) Complaining is also often contagious. For instance, listening to another person complain, may lead to a more in depth introspection of your own feelings and may subsequently facilitate complaining on your part as a listener. It could also enhance your own feelings of dissatisfaction, in turn, this would lower your dissatisfaction threshold and make you more willing to complain. One person complaining can affect the mood of a listener therefore increasing the listener?s negative affect having the same results as mentioned above. A third explanation may be a desire for one-upmanship. The purpose of this could be to gain attention, sympathy or appraisal. An example of this is upon listening to a complaint, for instance a misfortune, the other often mentions a worse misfortune to somehow come out on top. (Kowalski,189) ?People also react in many ways to different kinds of complaints, ranging from very supportive responses to complete dismissal of the person?s expression of dissatisfaction.? Some of the possible responses could be; agreeing, disagreeing, justifying the behavior called into question, denial, expressing sympathy, problem solving-that is attempting to resolve the problem, countercomplaining-complaining in response to a complaint, noncomitting-neutral response, or passing-that is ignoring the complaint. Depending on mainly three factors these different responses are selected. These three are: the focus of the complaint, the affect accompanying the complaint, and the content of the complaint. (Kowalski, 190) The first is whether the complaint was directed at the individual or at some person or event. Obviously complaints directed at the source of the satisfaction are more likely to produce a negative response. The second factor that determines the response is how much affect accompanies the complaint. If it is accompanied by intense negative affect or anger the response is less likely to be met with agreement or support than complaints that are expressed in a nonthreatening manner. The third factor determining the response is the content of the complaint, at least as determined by the listener?s perception. Four dimensions that can be used to differentiate a complaint are: Authentic vs. inauthentic, verifiable vs. nonverifiable, Instrumental vs. expressive, and direct vs. indirect. (Kowalski,190-191) To review, ?complaining produces a number of effects including the internalization of expressed complaints, contagious complaining by others, and interpersonal effects. Although a given complaint does not result in all of these outcomes, a particular complaint is likely to produce some desired or undesired effect either on the listener or on the complainer.? (Kowalski, 191) As we have seen, complaining can be a powerful tool to achieve certain outcomes, whether they are desired or undesired, and whether they help to achieve interpersonal or intrapsychic goals Hopefully some of the questions posed at the beginning of this paper were answered. Although the research I found was quite inclusive, I believe that there is still much to be explained about the simple but neglected interpersonal behavior of complaining. Future research in this area can hopefully shed some light in fields as diverse as health psychology, marketing, and conflict resolution. Alicke, M. D., Braun, J. C., Glor, J. E., Klotz, M. L., Magee, J., Sederholm, H., & Siegel, R. (1992).
The Report on What Is Social Networking?
... Harrison White expanded the use of systematic social network analysis. Social network analysis: Analysts reason from whole ... studies, economics, geography, information science, organizational studies, social psychology, and sociolinguistics, and has become a ... gave a non-individualistic explanation of social facts arguing that social phenomena arise when interacting individuals constitute ...
The Essay on Organizational Behavior Make People Culture
Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts University of Phoenix Online MGT 331, Organizational Behavior August 28, 2005 Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts Organizational behavior is the behavior of individuals, either one or a group. It is not the behavior of an organization, but rather the behavior of the people in an organization. This can be anywhere from a family at home ...
Complaining behavior in social interaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 286-295. Kowalski, Robin, M. (1996).
Complaints and Complaining: Functions, Antecedents, and Consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 119, No. 2, 179-196. Buss, D. M., Gomes, M., Higgins, D. S., & Lauterbach, K. (1987).
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