Definition:
A dispreferred response is the structurally marked second part of an adjacency pair — the reply that goes against the social action projected by the first part. Declining invitations, refusing requests, and disagreeing with assessments are typically dispreferred. They are characterized by delay, hesitation markers, accounts (explanations), and mitigation strategies.
In-Depth Explanation
Why dispreferred responses are marked:
When someone invites you to dinner, the social action projects acceptance. Declining requires extra conversational work because it threatens the relationship. This “extra work” is what makes dispreferred responses structurally recognizable:
Anatomy of a dispreferred response:
| Component | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Delay | Signals difficulty | (pause)… |
| Preface | Hedging marker | “Well…” / “Um…” / “The thing is…” |
| Token agreement | Brief alignment before disagreement | “I mean, yeah, it was okay, but…” |
| Account | Explanation for why | “…I actually have to work that night.” |
| Declination | The actual refusal (often buried) | “So I probably can’t make it.” |
| Mitigation | Soften the blow | “Maybe next time though?” / “I really wish I could.” |
Full dispreferred example:
A: “Hey, can you help me move this Saturday?”
B: “(pause)… Oh man, I would love to, but I actually promised my mom I’d help her with her garden this weekend. I’m really sorry. Maybe I can help on Sunday if that works?”
This is far more complex than the preferred response version: “Yeah, sure!”
Dispreference in Japanese:
Japanese dispreferred responses are even more elaborately indirect:
- ちょっと… (chotto…, “a little…”) + trailing off = conventional refusal marker
A: 「明日、遊べる？」(“Can you hang out tomorrow?”)
B: 「明日はちょっと…」(“Tomorrow is a little…”) = understood as “no” - すみません (sumimasen, “I’m sorry”) prefaces many declines
- Direct いいえ (iie, “no”) is rare — Japanese speakers overwhelmingly use indirect strategies
- Silence or vague responses are sometimes the dispreferred response itself — the hearer infers the refusal without it being stated
Cross-cultural miscommunication:
The structural features of dispreference are language-specific. Japanese speakers in English may underperform dispreferred cues (too indirect for English expectations, interpreted as “maybe yes”), while English speakers in Japanese may be too direct (interpreted as rude or socially insensitive).
Related Terms
See Also
Research
- Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of Social Action (pp. 57–101). Cambridge University Press.
- Mori, J. (1999). Negotiating Agreement and Disagreement in Japanese. John Benjamins. — Analyzes how preference organization operates in Japanese conversational interaction.