Repression can be a social, conversational phenomenon rather than a biological one.

Evidence

The routine interaction in semi-structured interviews permits the operation of what Billig ( 1999 ) has called ‘social repression’. Repression need not necessarily be understood in biological terms, if, as Billig contends, ‘one assumes that socially inappropriate responses or thoughts, rather than biological urges, constitute the objects of repression’ (ibid., p. 254). What is not said is as important as what is said. Subtle conversational avoidances and absences keep at bay socially immoral, socially unacceptable wishes and responses towards the Romanies. — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 668

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘social repression’ as an extension of Billig’s psychological concept to conversational interaction.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s work on taboo speech, moral panics, and the unsaid in discourse — echoes the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ material about implicit class signaling.