When Should Advice Be Given? Assessing the Role of Sequential Placement of Advice in Supportive Interactions in Two Cultures

Abstract

The current study assessed an integrated model of advice giving (Emotional supportProblem inquiry and analysis-Advice) with 572 participants from United States and 540 participants from mainland China. Participants read and responded to a hypothetical scenario in which they received advice from a friend. Advice that was offered following the moves of emotional support and problem inquiry and analysis was judged by both American and Chinese participants to be higher in quality and was more likely to be implemented than advice that did not follow this sequential pattern. Compared to Chinese participants, American participants evaluated advice offered with emotional support or problem inquiry and analysis as higher in quality. Participants with a higher independent self-construal also rated advice offered in conjunction with emotional support or problem inquiry and analysis as higher in quality than participants with a lower independent self-construal. Keywordssequential placement, advice-giving model, emotional support, problem inquiry and analysis, advice quality, intention to implement advice, culture, individualism-collectivism, selfconstrual, U.S., Chinese Advice, which can be defined as recommendation about what to do, think, or feel to manage a situation (MacGeorge, Graves, Feng, Gillihan, & Burleson, 2004), is a very common way for individuals to respond to others' problems and is a near-ubiquitous component of supportive interactions (e.g., Goldsmith & Fitch, 1997; Article 914Communication Research 41 (7) 2011). Research has shown that people's responses to advice can be influenced by a variety of factors, including the extent to which the advice attends to the recipient's desired self-image (Goldsmith & MacGeorge, 2000;MacGeorge, Feng, Butler, & Budarz, 2004), perceived content features of the advised course of action (Feng & Burleson, 2008;, and the perceived characteristics of advice-giver (for a review, see MacGeorge, Feng, & Thompson, 2008).A major limitation with prior research on advice was that advice had been typically studied as an independent form of support that functions on its own, and most studies had ignored the interconnectedness of various supportive acts. In recognition of this limitation, Feng (2009) advocated that more research attention be paid to the sequential placement of advice in supportive interactions. Feng (2009) argued that advice can be integrated with other forms of supportive acts, such as comforting and problem inquiry and analysis, in a complementary fashion to achieve optimal effect. Based on these assumptions, Feng (2009) proposed a theoretical framework called the Integrated Model of Advice-giving (IMA), which suggests that advice in supportive interactions should be more effective after the helper has first provided emotional support to the target and then engaged in problem inquiry and analysis to assess the relevance of advice. Feng's (2009) initial testing of this model with European American subjects largely supported those predictions.Given that IMA has...

The Influence of Emotional Support Quality on Advice Evaluation and Outcomes

“…Consistent with Feng (2009Feng ( , 2014, we found that emotional support higher in VPC led to more positive advice outcomes. However, we also extended Feng's insight by testing mechanisms-advice politeness and contentthrough which emotional support affects those outcomes.…”

“…Age might influence the practice of advice giving and evaluation in a way that restricts the generalizability of our findings. The provision and interpretation of advice varies across culture (Feng, 2014), making it necessary to interpret our conclusions in the context of limited cultural variation. When possible, future investigations of emotional support and advice should be conducted with a more diverse sample.…”

“…To date, only two studies appear to have directly examined the role of emotional support in determining advice outcomes (Feng, 2009(Feng, , 2014.…”

“…Consistent with prediction, advice was evaluated more positively, with greater intention to implement the advised action, when it was accompanied by emotional support (and problem analysis), especially when the emotional support preceded the advice. Feng's (2009Feng's ( , 2014 work indicates that the pairing of high quality advice with highly person-centered emotional support results in more positive advice outcomes, and that both the inclusion and sequence of emotional support play a role in determining those outcomes. The observed influence of emotional support sequence is especially consistent with conversational appraisal theory.…”

“…Providing such validation early in the interaction may be especially helpful (Feng, 2009(Feng, , 2014.…”