Evaluations of Older Adult Assertiveness in Problematic Clinical Encounters

Abstract

Within a communication predicament of aging framework, this study examined assertiveness as an option for older adults confronted with a problematic health care conversation. Older and younger participants evaluated scenarios in which senior client targets with or without hearing loss employed either assertive, passive, or aggressive responses. As predicted, assertive seniors were evaluated as most competent and likely to be satisfied with future encounters. Compared to older adults, young adults gave equivalent ratings for assertiveness but viewed the senior’s passive response especially positively and the aggressive response especially negatively. Hearing loss made no difference in evaluations of the three response styles. Findings are discussed in terms of the benefits for older adults of developing skills in selective assertiveness, with emphasis on their successful management of health care encounters.

Communication accommodation competence: The nature and nurture of accommodative resources across the lifespan

“…Selective assertiveness is a goal-based response to inappropriate communication that serves to break a cycle of negative communication, redirect an interaction toward a person-to-person orientation, and manage self-impression while correcting partner behavior (Ryan et al, 2005). Selective assertiveness requires that listeners take into consideration the goals, speaker, and situation before formulating an appropriately assertive response (Ryan et al, 2006), and as such it conforms nicely with multiple goals theories of communication (e.g., Caughlin, 2010), most of which acknowledge that overall human development includes development in our ability to produce sophisticated messages.…”

INVITED ARTICLE: As Family Members Age: A Research Agenda for Family Communication

“…The predictions of the CPA and ASI models have received substantial empirical support (Bonnesen & Hummert, 2002;Harwood, Ryan, Giles, & Tysoski, 1997;Hummert & Mazloff, 2001;Hummert, Shaner, Garstka, & Henry, 1998;Kemper & Harden, 1999;Ryan, Anas, & Friedman, 2006;Ryan, Bieman-Copland, Kwong See, Ellis, & Anas, 2002;Ryan, Kennaley, Pratt, & Shumovich, 2000;see Hummert et al, 2004, for a review). For example, in one experiment, we asked young, middle-aged, and older participants to generate persuasive messages to older targets characterized to suggest either positive (Golden Ager) or negative (Despondent) age stereotypes (Hummert et al, 1998).…”

“…Research shows that assertive and humorous responses have the most promise of establishing a competent image for older speakers, although perceptions of those using assertive responses are not uniformly positive . Specifically, assertive responders have been judged as less polite and respectful than passive responders (Harwood et al, 1997;Ryan et al, 2006;Ryan et al, 2000). Despite these risks, Savundranayagam, Ryan, and Hummert (in press) suggested that selective assertiveness offers older individuals the best chance of creating an image of competence and effectively managing a situation for more positive future interactions with implications for their psychological and physical health.…”

What do you do when you can't accommodate? Managing and evaluating problematic interactions in a multilingual medical environment

“…The extent to which participants' responses to these issues actively engaged the other speaker (e.g., code-switching, getting the other speaker's help) was striking, highlighting the inherently social and cooperative nature of accommodation. Because these situations required the clear transmission of informationdand as such, finding some way to reach a state of mutual understandingdthe strategies documented here were considerably more cooperative than those found in previous research on responses to nonaccommodation, which have included aggression, condescension, expressing negative affect nonverbally, and confrontation (Gasiorek, 2013;Hummert and Mazloff, 2001;Ryan et al, 2006).…”