How do emerging adults respond to exercise advice from parents? A test of advice response theory

Abstract

Advice response theory (ART) proposes advisor characteristics, advice politeness, and advice content impact recipient perceptions of advice quality, their intention to implement the advice, and their coping. However, ART has primarily been examined in friend-to-friend advising on academic, romantic, or social issues. To test ART in an understudied relational and topical context, emerging adults ( N = 196, aged 18–28 years) were surveyed about physical activity or exercise advice they received from a parent. Current findings supported propositions about advisor characteristics and politeness, and parent–child relational elements were particularly salient. Emerging adults satisfied with their parent–child relationship rated all advice features and outcomes more favorably, and participants who reported their parents conveyed that the participant was approved of, competent, and likeable rated all outcomes more favorably. Counter to ART predictions, emerging adults displayed psychological reactance to certain message content features, responding favorably to advice they perceived to propose an efficacious solution but reacting negatively to advice perceived to emphasize their capability of performing the action and the lack of drawbacks in doing so (especially when feelings of obligation were high). ART propositions about advisor characteristics and politeness may hold across advice situations, but the parent–child dynamic during emerging adulthood and inherent face threat for health influence attempts may explain why certain formulations of advice messages elicited responses inconsistent with ART.

Health Providers’ Advising on Symptom Management for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: Does Elaboration of Reasoning Influence Outcomes Relevant to Antibiotic Stewardship?

“…Second, our findings add to studies suggesting a complex relationship between positive feasibility and advice outcomes (e.g., Feng & MacGeorge, 2010). In contrast with past findings showing positive (Feng & MacGeorge, 2010) and negative (Guntzviller et al, 2017) effects of feasibility perceptions on advice outcomes, we observed an interaction between positive feasibility and instruction. Further work is needed to determine how advisors’ talk about the feasibility of an advised action is associated both with recipients’ perception of that feasibility and their responses to the advice in different relationships and contexts.…”

“…However, when instruction levels were lower, there was a negative association between positive feasibility talk and patient satisfaction (Figure 1C). In the absence of instruction, an overemphasis on the feasibility of a recommendation may be perceived as threatening to autonomy and patronizing, and, therefore, induce reactance (Guntzviller et al, 2017). This finding is consistent with past work indicating that emerging adults become irritated when health advice from their parents emphasizes the feasibility of the recommended behaviors (Guntzviller et al, 2017).…”

“…In the absence of instruction, an overemphasis on the feasibility of a recommendation may be perceived as threatening to autonomy and patronizing, and, therefore, induce reactance (Guntzviller et al, 2017). This finding is consistent with past work indicating that emerging adults become irritated when health advice from their parents emphasizes the feasibility of the recommended behaviors (Guntzviller et al, 2017). Additionally, provider emphasis on ease of use without instruction assumes a level of health knowledge and experience that may not be accurate (Weiss et al, 2005).…”

“…Although ART was principally developed to explain outcomes of advice in personal relationships (e.g., friendships; Feng & Feng, 2012), it is increasingly being tested with regard to health topics (e.g., Guntzviller et al, 2017). To date, three studies have tested claims derived from ART in the context of medical advising (MacGeorge, Caldes, et al, 2017; MacGeorge, Smith, et al, 2016, 2017).…”

Situating Advice Response Theory in a Cultural and Relational Context: How Hispanic Adults Perceive Exercise Advice From Parents

“…In the Hispanic community, it is customary for parents to provide lengthy and emotionally charged consejos , or parental advice lectures, to display concern for and engagement with their children (Alfaro, O’Reilly-Díaz, & Lopez, 2014; Holloway et al, 2014). Advisors may intend for advice to be supportive, informational, and/or influential (MacGeorge, Feng, & Guntzviller, 2016), but advice recipients can perceive advice, specifically advice about exercise, as overstepping, hurtful, and relationally damaging (Burke & Segrin, 2014; Guntzviller, Ratcliff, Dorsch, & Osai, 2017). Advice response theory (ART) predicts how the advice recipient’s perceptions of the advisor and advice message features drive the recipient’s emotional response and willingness to follow the advised action (B.…”