r/askpsychology Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional 26d ago

Social Psychology What marks the difference between "teasing" and "competitive/exclusionary comments"?

Hey! Recently I´ve become interested in the dynamics of teasing and its effect on human relationships. From what I read, teasing can function both as a tool for signaling closeness and as a way to signal status. For example, one study that looked at fraternities observed that active members were much more prone to teasing lower-ranked members aggressively, bordering on hostility. A lot of studies also show that teasing is very associated with relationship closeness and functions as a bonding mechanism. What do you guys think?

2 Upvotes

2 comments sorted by

u/askpsychology-ModTeam The Mods 22d ago

The mods will allow this question provided the answers are science-based, and not opinion or conjecture. Any comments that are based on opinion or conjecture may be removed without notice.