The current study proposes that recipients' aversive reactions to complaints are a function of perceived face threat. One hundred and ninety-nine college students completed a survey asking them to describe in detail a recent complaint they had received from a friend or romantic partner, and to describe their response to that complaint. Respondents completed measures designed to assess their reactions to the complaint, including perceived face threat, negative affect, fairness, and damage to the relationship. As predicted, dispositional complaints were perceived to be more face threatening than nondispositional complaints, and complaints delivered in public were more face threatening than complaints delivered in private. Both positive and negative face threat were associated with the complaint recipient's anger/hurt and defensiveness. Perceptions of positive face threat also were associated with perceptions of less fairness and greater perceived damage to the relationship, whereas perceived threat to negative face predicted the recipient's feelings of embarrassment and anxiety/depression. The findings indicate that the face-threatening nature of complaints is associated with adverse relational consequences. Perceived threats to positive face, which tend to convey relational devaluation, were more strongly associated with relational damage than were threats to negative face.
With the tremendous expansion of knowledge that will come from advances in the Human Genome Project, the question of how to effectively communicate genetic risk information will assume increasing importance. This article reports research intended to provide a descriptive foundation for future inquiry. Drawing on information from medical professionals and videotaped interactions of families whose infant has tested positive for cystic fibrosis, the authors present an analysis of the phases of communication following newborn screening. From this analysis, it can be seen that genetic counseling is best viewed as part of a larger process of risk communication.
As advances are made in understanding the human genome, newborn screening for a variety of different diseases becomes more prevalent. Although this screening can provide a number of benefits, it also may be associated with various negative psychosocial consequences, including heightened uncertainty and anxiety about the child's health. Relying on videotaped interactions between health care providers and families whose child received a positive newborn screening test for cystic fibrosis (CF; N = 17), in this article we report on how the respective parties manage uncertainty. Although the goal of the providers appears to be one of reducing uncertainty, all parties to the interaction engage in behaviors that both manage and negotiate as opposed to just reduce uncertainty. Implications for theorizing about uncertainty management are discussed.
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