Volunteer hospital workers evaluated the effectiveness of regulative messages constructed by hospital staff in response to four different scenarios. Positive face support was not related to effectiveness ratings for volunteers with lower construct differentiation, but volunteers with greater construct differentiation were severely critical of messages lacking face support. Messages addressing a violation of the hospital's confidentiality policy were rated most favorably, regardless of face support or volunteer construct differentiation. Implications of the results for improving volunteer/staff relations are discussed.
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