A downside of asking for things in a guess culture is that people have to give you the things. (Unless you’re demanding so much they’d rather refuse and lose you as an ally.) Imposing this cost on people hurts them, as well as lowers your status.
Note that I wrote “asking about”, not “asking for”.
I agree that turning down requests in a guess culture has social costs, which is one reason the distinction between appropriate and inappropriate requests is considered so important.
Imposing costs on others by making demands of them doesn’t necessarily lower my status.
A downside of asking for things in a guess culture is that people have to give you the things. (Unless you’re demanding so much they’d rather refuse and lose you as an ally.) Imposing this cost on people hurts them, as well as lowers your status.
Note that I wrote “asking about”, not “asking for”.
I agree that turning down requests in a guess culture has social costs, which is one reason the distinction between appropriate and inappropriate requests is considered so important.
Imposing costs on others by making demands of them doesn’t necessarily lower my status.
Where “doesn’t necessarily” for most intents and purposes could mean “does the reverse of”!
Yes. But now you’ve gone and ruined my guess-culture use of understatement with your ask-culture explicitness! Hrumph.