Advise with Permission?: The Effects of Advice Solicitation on Advice Outcomes

Linguistic Influences on the Outcomes of Imposed Advice

“…The encyclopedia allowed the experimenter to find topically appropriate advice quickly. Following procedures utilized in prior research (Van Swol et al, 2017), this advice was inserted into a standardized script that explicitly offered an advised action and followed up with an assertion of efficacy: “I really think that you should [INSERT ADVICE]. It seems like something that would help.…”

“…Imposed advice on problems that are more serious, personal, and private may elicit more face threat, psychological reactance, and negative emotions than unwanted advice on less serious problems (Van Swol et al, 2019). Indeed, Van Swol et al (2017) found that participants rating imposed advice in fictitious advice scenarios perceived imposed advice more negatively in scenarios that involved problems that were perceived as more serious, personal, and private. Similarly, recipients reacted more negatively to imposed advice when the problems they shared were more serious and private (Van Swol et al, 2019).…”

“…Advice involves “ recommendations about what might be thought, said, or done to manage a problem ” (MacGeorge et al, 2008, p. 150). Although research often makes a general distinction between solicited and unsolicited advice, recent research (Van Swol et al, 2017) suggests four types based on degree of solicitation by the recipient. Advice can be actively solicited by the recipient (e.g., “Can you give me advice?”) or advice can be permitted by the recipient when offered by the advisor (e.g., “Do you want some advice?…”

“…Compared with other types of advice, recipients often react most negatively to imposed advice, probably because it threatens their sense of autonomy and competence (Van Swol et al, 2017). Unsolicited and unwanted advice is less likely to be utilized and is perceived as lower quality than solicited and wanted advice (Chentsova-Dutton & Vaughn, 2011; Deelstra et al, 2003; Feng & Magen, 2015; Goldsmith, 2000; MacGeorge et al, 2004; Paik, 2020; Van Swol et al, 2017). Yet teachers, parents, spouses, coworkers, and people in many other roles may have the need or desire to provide advice even when it is not wanted by the recipient and has been actively rebuffed.…”

A quantitative exploration of repeated advice-seeking on Reddit's r/relationships

“…Caplan & Samter, 1999;Goldsmith, 1999;Goldsmith & MacGeorge, 2000;MacGeorge et al, 2002;Dalal & Bonaccio, 2010;Feng & Burleson, 2008;Feng & MacGeorge, 2010;MacGeorge et al, 2016b), and/or (2) advice-taking in offline settings (e.g. Yaniv, 2004;Mansell & Lam, 2006;Van Swol, 2011, Tost, Gino & Larrick, 2012Yaniv & Choshen-Hillel, 2012;Carlson, 2016;Van Swol, MacGeorge & Prahl, 2017). The advice-response theory has also been formulated by MacGeorge and colleagues; it attempts to integrate advisor features (e.g.…”