ID
rachmaws13@gmail.com
Keywords
How to Cite
- Abstract 76
- pdf 31
Abstract
Love bombing is a dangerous phenomenon in relationships, where a narcissistic perpetrator uses language to manipulate their victim. This study aims to uncover the hidden meanings behind Jake’s love bombing language, revealing the manipulative intent behind his words. A qualitative descriptive approach is employed to analyze the language of love bombing within a narcissistic relationship. The data consists of 50 utterances from the short movie Love Bomb, spoken by Jake, the narcissistic character, towards Skye as his victim. Data were collected through observation, selecting utterances with significant manipulative intent from the official YouTube channel @integratebristol. In the analysis, Jake’s utterances are categorized into two stages of narcissistic abuse based on Grossi: idealization (18 utterances) and devaluation (32 utterances). In the idealization stage, he uses flattering language to create an illusion of love and emotional connection with Skye. As the relationship shifts to devaluation, his language becomes manipulative, controlling, and aggressive, aimed at diminishing Skye’s self-esteem and asserting dominance. Using Searle’s taxonomy of illocutionary acts, Jake’s utterances are classified into assertives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations. The findings show that during the idealization stage, Jake’s utterances consist of assertives (38.89%), directives (16.67%), commissives (0%), expressives (44.44%), and declarations (0%). In the devaluation stage, the distribution shifts to assertives (31.25%), directives (43.75%), commissives (18.75%), expressives (6.25%), and declarations (0%). Further analysis using Austin’s speech act theory reveals that Jake’s locutionary acts often differ from his literal meaning, while his perlocutionary effects shape Skye’s emotions and decisions. The study concludes that love bombing conceals strategic manipulation through exaggerated praise, conditional affection, and guilt-inducing phrases. This demonstrates how manipulative language in love bombing enables the perpetrator to maintain power and control in relationships
References
Apriyanto. (2020). LANGUAGE AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL IN HUMAN LIFE. Fox Justi: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, 10(2), 45–54. http://ejournal.seaninstitute.or.id/index.php/Justi/index
Asya, A. (2013). LINGUISTIC MANIPULATION: DEFINITION AND TYPES. IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education, 1(2). www.ijcrsee.com
Austin, J. L. (1962). HOW TO DO THINGS WITH WORDS. Oxford University Press.
Azureen, & Kamaluddin, M. R. (2021). Narcissists: The Game Player In Relationship. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(3), 385–393. http://journalppw.com
Batool, A., Saleem, M., Idrees, S., Naeem, R., & Javed, H. A. (2022). A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF LOVE BOMBING AS A MANIPULATION TACTIC EXPERIENCED BY FEMALES IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS. 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities.
Beri, R. (2024a). A Study on Love Bombing, Narcissism and Emotional Abuse among Young Adults in Relationship and Situationship. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Approaches in Psychology (IJIAP), 2(6), 2584–0142.
Beri, R. (2024b). Love Bombing and Emotional Abuse among College Students. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Approaches in Psychology (IJIAP), 2(1), 158–167.
Brown, P., & Molete, M. (2024). A pragmatic analysis of linguistic manipulative statements displayed on Facebook political group page. Journal of Applied Studies in Language, 8(2), 63–72. http://ojs.pnb.ac.id/index.php/JASLhttp://ojs.pnb.ac.id/index.php/JASL
Campbell, W. K., & Foster, C. (2002). Narcissism and commitment in romantic relationships: An investment model analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(4), 484–495. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202287006
Devi, M. F., & Degaf, A. (2021). AN ANALYSIS OF COMMISSIVE SPEECH ACT USED BY THE MAIN CHARACTER OF “KNIVES OUT.” PARADIGM: Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 4(1), 43–52. https://doi.org/10.18860/prdg.v4i1.10932
Fedorenko, E., Piantadosi, S. T., & Gibson, E. A. F. (2024). Language is primarily a tool for communication rather than thought. Nature, 630(8017), 575–586. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07522-w
Ganesan, R. (2024). AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DARK TRIAD, LOVE BOMBING AND ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE AMONG DATING APP USERS. Research Gate, 240–248. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.21678.73282
Grossi, R. (2021). A Narcissistic Love Story. www.oio24.com.
Horn, L. R., & Ward, G. (2006). The Handbook of Pragmatics. Blackwell Publising I.td.
@integratebristol. (2022). Love Bomb - drama on coercive control & toxic relationships [Video recording].
Juwita, C., & Inayah, R. (2021). PRAGMATICS STUDY OF INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS IN GOVERNOR RIDWAN KAMIL’S VICTORY SPEECH. PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education), 4(5).
King, J. W. (2011). Narcissism in Romantic Relationships: An Analysis of Couples’ Behavior during Disagreements. Kaleidoscope, 10(11). https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kaleidoscope
Mabaquiao, N. Jr. M. (2018). Speech Act Theory: From Austin to Searle. Augustinian: A Journal for Humanities, Social Sciences, Business, and Education, 9(1). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353274370
Mialkovska, L., Yanovets, A., Sternichuk, V., Nykoliuk, T., Honchar, K., & Khnykina, O. (2023). MANIPULATIVE TACTICS IN MODERN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA DISCOURSE: LINGUISTIC, PRAGMATIC AND EDUCATIONAL APPROACH. 15(38), 345.
Rabiah, S. (2012). LANGUAGE AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL REALITY DISCLOSER. International Conference on Media, Communication and Culture “Rethinking Multiculturalism: Media in Multicultural Society.” https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1690-0025.
Rahayu, F. N., Arifin, M. B., & Ariani, S. (2018). ILLOCUTIONARY ACT IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS’ UTTERANCES IN MIRROR MIRROR MOVIE. Jurnal Ilmu Budaya, 2(2), 175–187.
R.D. Asti. (2023). THE ART OF MANIPULATION (Tim Caesar, Ed.). Caesar Media Pustaka.
Searle, J. R. (1979). EXPRESSION AND MEANING Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts. Cambridge University Press. www.cambridge.org/9780521229012
Strutzenberg, C., Wiersma-Mosley, J., Jozkowski, K. N., & Becnel, J. N. (2017). Love-bombing: A narcissistic approach to relationship formation. The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, 81–89. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317663551
Widyawanti, A. L. (2024). Illocutionary Speech Acts in The Short Movie “The Translator”: Pragmatic Study. JELITA: Journal of English Language Teaching and Literature, 5(1), 144–165.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rachmawati Setyaningsih, Fitri Rakhmawati