Advisor Interaction Goals and Verbal Messages: Merging a Multiple Goals Approach and the Integrated Model of Advice Giving

Abstract

Based on the integrated model of advice giving and theorizing about interaction goals, we examined how advisors’ goal intensity and complexity predicted perceptions of advisor harmfulness and helpfulness. We also examined predictors of goal intensity and complexity, such as advisors’ relational satisfaction with recipients, which generally increased goal intensity and complexity. Recipients and advisors rated advisors’ behaviors as more helpful when advisors reported greater intensity of the problem-solving goal but not the other three goals (emotional support, eliciting disclosure, and facilitating reappraisal). However, recipients and advisors rated advisors’ behaviors as more harmful when advisors had low versus moderate or high goal complexity. Qualitative analyses of conversation transcripts revealed patterns of interaction behavior associated with goal intensity and complexity. We discuss how goal intensity and complexity may relate to advisors’ messages and interaction patterns during the conversation, and therefore recipient and advisor perceptions of advisors’ helpfulness and harmfulness.

Considering Communication Theory in Health Education and Behavior: Applying the Integrated Model of Advice-Giving in Friendship Sex Talks

“…Prior empirical testing of the IMA examining both American and Chinese samples (Feng, 2009, 2014), the advice givers’ goals (Guntzviller, Pulido, et al, 2020), and how the recipients’ cognitive disposition influences their conversational behaviors (Feng et al, 2017) has demonstrated that advice offered in the IMA process tends to elicit higher evaluation of advice quality (a global assessment of the message) and greater intentions to follow the advice from recipients (Feng, 2009, 2014; MacGeorge et al, 2016). Despite these advancements in understanding the underlying mechanisms of advice-giving interactions, research examining the sequential placement of emotional support before providing advice has yet to examine how verbal person centeredness (VPC) and nonverbal immediacy (NVI) messages influence advice-giving under sexual communicative interactions.…”

“…During sexual communicative interactions, advice givers may inquire about and analyze the recipient’s sex-related concerns by assessing their needs, capabilities, and past behaviors to gauge the relevance of the advice (Feng, 2009; Grossman et al, 2020). Substantial research indicates that advice messages that attend to recipient’s face needs can function as problem inquiry and analysis (Feng & Magen, 2016; Guntzviller, Pulido, et al, 2020) because these strategies assess the relevance of other’s situation while trying to form a piece of advice which can intrinsically threaten individual’s social identity (Feng et al, 2017).…”