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 support—Problem 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.

Keywords

sequential placement advice-giving model emotional support problem inquiry and analysis advice quality intention to implement advice culture individualism-collectivism self-construal U.S.Chinese

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Acitelli

L. K.

(1996). The neglected links between marital support and marital satisfaction. In Pierce

G. R.

Sarason

B. R.

Sarason

I. G.

(Eds.), Handbook of social support and the family (pp. 83-104). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Adler

N. J.

Braham

Graham

J. I.

(1992). Strategy implementation: A comparison of face-to-face negotiations in the People’s Republic of China and the United States. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 449-466.

Bresnahan

M. J.

Levine

T. R.

Shearman

S. M.

Lee

S. Y.

Park

C. Y.

Kiyomiya

(2005). A multimethodmultitrait validity assessment of self-construal in Japan, Korea, and the United States. Human Communication Research, 31, 33-59.

Burleson

B. R.

(2003). Emotional support skills. In Greene

J. O.

Burleson

B. R.

(Eds.), Handbook of communication and social interaction skills (pp. 551-594). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Burleson

B. R.

Goldsmith

D. J.

(1998). How the comforting process works: Alleviating emotional distress through conversationally induced reappraisals. In Anderson

P. A.

Guerrero

L. K.

(Eds.), Handbook of communication and emotion: Research, theory, applications, and contexts (pp. 245-280). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Burleson

B. R.

Kunkel

A. W.

Samter

Werking

K. J.

(1996). Men’s and women’s evaluations of communication skills in personal relationships: When sex differences make a difference—and when they don’t. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13, 201-224.

Burleson

B. R.

MacGeorge

E. L.

(2002). Supportive communication. In Knapp

M. L.

Daly

J. A.

(Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 374-424). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Burleson

B. R.

Mortenson

S. R.

(2003). Explaining cultural differences in evaluations of emotional support behaviors: Exploring the mediating influences of value systems and interaction goals. Communication Research, 30, 113-146.

Butler

E. A.

Lee

T. L.

Gross

J. J.

(2007). Emotion regulation and culture: Are the social consequences of emotion suppression culture-specific? Emotion, 7, 30-48.

10.

Butler

E. A.

Lee

T. L.

Gross

J. J.

(2009). Does expressing your emotions raise or lower your blood pressure? The answer depends on cultural context. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40, 510-517.

11.

Cai

D. A.

Fink

E. L.

(2002). Conflict style differences between individualists and collectivists. Communication Monographs, 69, 67-87.

12.

Chen

J. M.

Kim

H. S.

Mojaverian

Morling

(2012). Cultural and social support Provision: Who gives what and why. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 3-13.

13.

Chentsova-Dutton

Y. E.

Vaughn

(2012). Let me tell you what to do: Cultural differences in advice-giving. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 43, 687-703.

14.

Collins

N. L.

Feeney

B. C.

(2004). Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: Evidence from experimental and observational studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 363-383.

15.

Cramer

(2003). Facilitativeness, conflict, demand for approval, self-esteem, and satisfaction with romantic relationships. Journal of Psychology, 137, 85-98.

16.

Cutrona

C. E.

Suhr

J. A.

(1994). Social support communication in the context of marriage: An analysis of couples’ supportive interactions. In Burleson

B. R.

Albrecht

T. L.

Sarason

I. G.

(Eds.), Communication of social support (pp. 113-135). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

17.

Cutrona

C. E.

Russell

D. W.

(1990). Types of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In Sarason

B. R.

Sarason

I. G.

Pierce

G. R.

(Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 319-366). New York, NY: Wiley.

18.

Dakof

G. A.

Taylor

S. E.

(1990). Victims’ perceptions of support attempts: What is helpful from whom? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 80-89.

19.

Davison

G. C.

Williams

M. E.

Nezami

Bice

DeQuattro

V. L.

(1991). Relaxation, reduction in angry articulated thoughts, and improvements in borderline hypertension and heart rate. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 14, 453-468.

20.

Elliott

(1985). Helpful and nonhelpful events in brief counseling interviews: An empirical taxonomy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 32, 307-322.

21.

Feng

(2009). Testing an integrated model of advice-giving in supportive interactions. Human Communication Research, 35, 115-129.

22.

Feng

Burleson

B. R.

(2006). Exploring the support-seeking process across cultures: Toward an integrated analysis of similarities and differences. In Orbe

M. P.

Allen

B. J.

Flores

L. A.

(Eds.), The same and different: Acknowledging the diversity within and between cultural groups (pp. 243-266). Washington, DC: National Communication Association.

23.

Feng

Burleson

B. R.

(2008). The effects of argument explicitness on responses to advice in supportive interactions. Communication Research, 35, 849-874.

24.

Feng

MacGeorge

E. L.

(2006). Predicting receptiveness to advice: Characteristics of the problem, the advice-giver, and the recipient. Southern Communication Journal, 71, 67-85.

25.

Feng

MacGeorge

E. L.

(2010). The influences of message and source factors on advice outcomes. Communication Research, 37, 553-575.

26.

Goldsmith

D. J.

(2000). Soliciting advice: The role of sequential placement in mitigating face threat. Communication Monographs, 67, 1-19.

27.

Goldsmith

D. J.

Dun

S. A.

(1997). Sex differences and similarities in the communication of social support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 14, 317-337.

28.

Goldsmith

D. J.

Fitch

(1997). The normative context of advice as social support. Human Communication Research, 23, 454-476.

29.

Goldsmith

D. J.

MacGeorge

E. L.

(2000). The impact of politeness and relationship on perceived quality of advice about a problem. Human Communication Research, 26, 234-263.

30.

Graetz

B. W.

Shute

R. H.

Sawyer

M. G.

(2000). An Australian study of adolescents with cystic fibrosis: Perceived supportive and nonsupportive behaviors from families and friends and psychological adjustment. Journal of Adolescent Health, 26, 64-69.

31.

Greenberg

(2002). Emotion-focused therapy: Coaching clients to work through their feelings. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

32.

Greenberg

Paivio

(1997). Working with emotion in psychotherapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

33.

Greenberg

L.S.

Rice

L.N.

Elliott

(1993). Facilitating emotional change. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

34.

Gudykunst

W. B.

Lee

C. M.

(2003). Assessing the validity of self-construal scales: A response to Levine et al. Human Communication Research, 29, 253-274.

35.

Gudykunst

W. B.

Matsumoto

(1996). Cross-cultural variability of communication in interpersonal relationships. In Gudykunst

W.B.

Ting-Toomey

Nishida

(Eds.), Communication in personal relationships across cultures (pp. 19-56). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

36.

Haaga

D. A. F.

Stiles

W. B.

(2000). Randomized clinical trials in psychotherapy research: Methodology, design, and evaluation. In Snyder

C. R.

Ingram

R. E.

(Eds.), Handbook of Psychological Change: Psychotherapy Processes and Practices for the 21st Century (pp. 14-39). New York, NY: Wiley.

37.

Hall

E. T.

(1976). Beyond culture. Garden City, NY: Anchor.

38.

Harzing

A. W.

(2006). Response styles in cross-national mail survey research: A 26-country study. International Journal of Cross-cultural Management, 6, 243-266.

39.

Heritage

Sefi

(1992). Dilemmas of advice. In Drew

Heritage

(Eds.), Talk at work: Interaction in institutional settings (pp. 359-417). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

40.

Hofstede

(2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

41.

Holmstrom

A. J.

Burleson

B. R.

(2011). An initial test of a cognitive-emotional theory of esteem-support messages. Communication Research, 38, 326-355.

42.

Jacobson

N. S.

Dobson

K. S.

Truax

P. A.

Addis

M. E.

Koerner

Gollan

J. K.

. . . Prince

S. E.

(1996). A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 295-304.

43.

Jones

S. M.

(2004). Putting the person into person-centered and immediate emotional support: Emotional change and perceived helper competence as outcomes of comforting in helping situations. Communication Research, 31, 338-360.

44.

Kim

Pan

Park

H. S.

(1998). High-versus low-context culture: A comparison of Chinese, Korean, and American cultures. Psychology & Marketing, 15, 507-521.

45.

Kim

M. S.

Raja

N. S.

(2003). When validity testing lacks validity: Comment on Levine et al. Human Communication Research, 29, 275-290.

46.

Kim

H. S.

Sherman

D. K.

Taylor

S. E.

(2006). Pursuit of Happiness and Pursuit of Harmony: Culture, relationships, and social support seeking. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1595-1607.

47.

Kim

H. S.

Sherman

D. K.

Taylor

S. E.

(2008). Culture and social support. American Psychologist, 63, 518-526.

48.

Kinnell

A. M.

Maynard

(1996). The delivery and receipt of safer sex advice in pretest counseling sessions for HIV and AIDS. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 24, 405-437.

49.

Leung

Kim

M. S.

(1997). A modified version of self-construal scale. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa University Press.

50.

Levine

T. R.

Bresnahan

M. J.

Park

H. S.

Lapinski

M. K.

Wittenbaum

G. M.

Shearman

S. M.

. . . Ohashi

(2003). Self-construal scales lack validity. Human Communication Research, 29, 210-252.

51.

MacGeorge

Feng

Burleson

(2011). Supportive communication. In Knapp

M. L.

Daly

J. A.

(Eds.). Handbook of interpersonal communication (pp. 317-354). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

52.

MacGeorge

E. L.

Feng

Butler

G. L.

Budarz

S. K.

(2004). Understanding advice in supportive interactions: Beyond the facework and message evaluation paradigm. Human Communication Research, 30, 42-70.

53.

MacGeorge

E. L.

Feng

Thompson

(2008). “Good” and “bad” advice: How to advise more effectively. In Motley

(Ed.), Applied interpersonal communication: Behaviors that affect outcomes (pp. 145-164). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

54.

MacGeorge

E. L.

Graves

A. R.

Feng

Gillihan

S. J.

Burleson

(2004). The myth of gender cultures: Similarities outweigh differences in men’s and women’s provision of and responses to supportive communication. Sex Roles, 50, 143-175.

55.

MacGeorge

E. L.

Hanasono

Guntzviller

Feng

Mincy

(2009, November). Predicting receptiveness to advice in supportive interactions. Paper presented at the Interpersonal Communication Division of National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, IL.

56.

Maynard

D. W.

(1991). The perspective-display series and the delivery and receipt of diagnostic news. In Boden

Zimmerman

D. H.

(Eds.), Talk and social structure: Studies in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (pp. 164-194). Cambridge, UK: Polity.

57.

Morling

Kitayama

Miyamoto

(2003). American and Japanese women use different coping strategies during normal pregnancy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1533-1546.

58.

Mortenson

S. T.

Burleson

B. R.

Feng

Liu

(2009). Cultural similarities and differences in seeking social support as a means of coping: A comparison of Americans and Chinese and an evaluation of the mediating effects of self-construal. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 2, 208-239.

59.

Peterson

R. A.

(2001). On the use of college students in social science research: Insights from a second-order meta-analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 28, 450-461.

60.

Prochaska

J. O.

(1999). How do people change, and how can we change to help more people? In Hubble

M. A.

Duncan

B. L.

Miller

S. D.

(Eds.), The heart and soul of change: What works in therapy (pp. 227-255). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

61.

Samter

(1994). Unsupportive relationships: Deficiencies in the support-giving skills of the lonely person’s friends. In Burleson

B. R.

Albrecht

T. L.

Sarason

I. G.

(Eds.), The communication of social support: Messages, interactions, relationships, and community (pp. 195-214). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

62.

Samter

Burleson

B. R.

(2005). The role of communication in same-sex friendships: A comparison among African Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans. Communication Quarterly, 53, 265-283.

63.

Samter

Whaley

B. B.

Mortenson

S. R.

Burleson

B. R.

(1997). Ethnicity and emotional support in same-sex friendship: A comparison of Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Euro-Americans. Personal Relationships, 4, 413-430.

64.

Savani

Morris

M. W.

Naidu

N. V. R.

Kumar

Berlia

(2011). Cultural conditioning: Understanding interpersonal accommodation in India and the U.S. in terms of the modal characteristics of interpersonal influence situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 84-102.

65.

Shams

(2001). Social support, loneliness, and friendship preference among British Asian and non-Asian adolescents. Social Behavior and Personality, 29, 399-404.

66.

Silverman

Bor

Miller

Goldman

(1992). “Obviously the advice is then to keep to safer sex”: Advice-giving and advice-reception in AIDS counseling. In Aggleton

Davies

Hart

(Eds.), AIDS: Rights, risks and reason (pp. 174-191). London, UK: Falmer.

67.

Singelis

T. M.

Brown

W. J.

(1995). Culture, self, and collectivist communication: Linking culture to individual behavior. Human Communication Research, 21, 354-389.

68.

Taylor

S. E.

Sherman

D. K.

Kim

H. S.

Jarcho

Takagi

Dunagan

M. S.

(2004). Culture and social support: Who seeks it and why? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 354-362.

69.

Triandis

H. C.

(1994). Culture and social behavior. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

70.

Triandis

H. C.

Suh

E. M.

(2002). Cultural influences on personality. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 133-160.

71.

Van de Vijver

F. J. R.

Leung

(2000). Methodological issues in psychological research on culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31, 33-51.

72.

Vehviläinen

(2001). Evaluative advice in educational counseling: The use of disagreement in the “stepwise entry” to advice. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 34, 371-398.

73.

Weisz

Wood

L. F.

(2005). Social identity support and friendship outcomes: A longitudinal study predicting who will be friends and best friends 4 years later. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 416-432.

74.

Whitbeck

L. B.

Hoyt

D. R.

Huck

S. M.

(1994). Early family relationships, intergenerational solidarity, and support provided to parents by their adult children. Journal of Gerontology, 49, 85-94.

75.

Wills

T. A.

(1985). Supportive functions of interpersonal relationships. In Cohen

Syme

S. L.

(Eds.), Social support and health (pp. 61-82). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

76.

Wills

T. A.

Shinar

(2000). Measuring perceived and received social support. In Cohen

Underwood

L. G.

Gottlieb

B. H.

(Eds.), Social support measurement and intervention (pp. 86-135). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

77.

S-Y.

Rubin

D. L.

(2000). Evaluating the impact of collectivism and individualism on argumentative writing by Chinese and North American college students. Research in the Teaching of English, 35, 148-178.