Discrediting signals. A model of social evaluation to study discrediting moves in political debates

The paper analyzes the move of discrediting the opponent as a means to persuasion in political debates. After analysis of a corpus of political debates, a typology of discrediting strategies is outlined, distinguished in terms of three criteria: the target—the feature of the opponent specifically attacked (dominance, competence, benevolence); the route through which it is attacked—topic, mode or directly the person; and the type of communicative act that conveys the attack (insult, criticism, correction…). The relevance of body signals in discrediting moves is highlighted.