Attribution of Religious Commitment: Differences Between the Religious and the Nonreligious

Abstract

Investigators of linguistic devices such as minimal responses have assumed their function, neglecting to examine the matter empirically. This study introduces a technique enabling the identification of the function of such responses. With stereophonic recordings of conversation between two people, it was possible to delete minimal responses from an original recording. Eighty British students heard either an original recording or an edited version in which minimal responses had been deleted and were asked to make judgments about various aspects of the interaction. Results indicate minimal responses served to denote agreement and to suggest a context of informality.