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2023-10-13

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Vol. 8 No. 3 (2023)

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Research Articles

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How to Cite

Uwen, G. O., Ekpenyong, B. A., Onah, G. A., & Akpanika, E. N. (2023). Emotional women and promiscuous men: Language use as discursive stances of wives on cheating husbands. Environment and Social Psychology, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v8i3.1848

Emotional women and promiscuous men: Language use as discursive stances of wives on cheating husbands

God’sgift Ogban Uwen

Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar

Bassey Asukwo Ekpenyong

Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar

Gregory Ajima Onah

Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, University of Calabar

Ekpenyong Nyong Akpanika

Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, University of Calabar


DOI: https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v8i3.1848


Keywords: emotional women, discursive stances, emotional language, appraisal patterns, cheating husbands

Abstract

This paper investigates the dimensions of emotive language used by women to situate their stances on cheating husbands in Calabar, Southern Nigeria. The data for the study were generated by means of non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews, aided by audiotape recording and field notes. One hundred married women constitute the representative sample from whom the data were elicited. Findings show that the participants used emotional language to establish different stances in discourses on adulterous acts of their husbands. The participants’ stances are construed to be nuanced in religious, punitive, revengeful, sociobiological, reconciliatory and legal considerations. Participants’ choices were influenced by the women’s religious, gendered and sociocultural orientations, educational background and level of exposure, family and social pressure, personal safety and psychological state. These differentials connect the appraisal patterns with the consequences of each stance which should also serves as expository guide on the rational for such decisions by women on cheating spouses. The emotive outbursts by the participants stress the need for men to be faithful to their wives to sustain mutual happiness and peaceful marriages.

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