Politic Driving Behavior in Africa: An Investigation into Positive and Negative Politeness through Signs and Signals

Abstract

The study examines the use of nonverbal positive and negative politeness through the ‘encoding’ by ‘giving signals’ and the ‘decoding’ by ‘following signs’ of the politic-driving behavior in Africa. The thematic framework is basically based on the work of Brown and Levinson (1987) and AlAfnan (2022). The research sample included 723 drivers from 16 African countries [1]that belong to the five African regions. The examination looked into four variables that are the age, gender, level of education, and country of origin of respondents. The study found a positive correlation between education and politic driving behavior as educated drivers, especially female drivers, tend to be more cautious about their self-image and other drivers’ self-esteem than uneducated drivers. The study also reveals that age plays a significant role in following politic driving behavior as elder drivers are more polite than younger drivers, regardless of gender. The study also showed that Algerian male and female, Moroccan male and female, Tunisian male and female, and Cameroonian female drivers have the highest frequency of ‘following signs’ and that Moroccan male and female, Egyptian male, Algerian female, Tunisian male, Botswana male, and Cameroonian male drivers have the highest frequency of ‘giving signals’, which reflects their self-awareness and interest in other drivers’ self-esteem and self-worth.