communication accommodation theory

n. Communication accommodation theory (CAT) was formulated in the early 1970s and has been refined and elaborated many times since. It is concerned with how and why people reduce and magnify communicative differences among themselves - as well as the social consequences of so doing. Major accommodation strategies include converging toward, or diverging away from, another. These can be achieved by a host of verbal and nonverbal means: via language choice, modifying one’s accent or speech rate, changing patterns of smiling, pitch, and gestures, and others. Generally, people converge toward those whom they like or respect or those who have power, while they diverge to underscore the importance of their social identities to others. Importantly, CAT claims people will accommodate to where they believe others to be rather than to where they objectively are.

CAT is regarded as a major theory in the social psychology of language and communication, its propositions receiving much empirical support across an array of cultures and languages. The theory, invoked within many disciplines, has also led to a range of satellite theories, including the intergroup model of bilingualism. 

- hg