On the Reluctance to Communicate Undesirable Messages (The MUM Effect): A Field Study

Tesser, Abraham; Rosen, Sidney; Tesser, Marsha

doi:10.2466/pr0.1971.29.2.651

Cited by 69 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…These results were as expected and indicated that subjects anticipated that positive statements would be easier to deliver than negative statements. These results support Tesser et al's ( 1971) contention that persons are reluctant to communicate negative information-the so-called &dquo;Mum Effect.&dquo;…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

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Structured Feedback Delivered in Small Groups

Martin

Jacobs

1980

Small Group Behavior

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Such re- Mean Impact Scores for Valence x Type by Deliverer Sex Interaction sults strongly support the contention of Tesser et al ( 1971) that people are extremely reluctant to give negative information to other people. If offered a choice, people will choose to give positive information to one another.…”

Section: Round IIsupporting

confidence: 64%

Structured Feedback Delivered in Small Groups

Martin

Jacobs

1980

Small Group Behavior

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“…It is often characterized as the ability to ''put oneself into another's shoes''. These behaviors by the bearers of bad news may stem from the difficulties of the person delivering the news [22][23][24], but the strong emotions evoked in these cases serve to remind us of the importance of following the principles of the correct strategy for the breaking of bad news.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The bearer of bad news often experiences strong emotions such as anxiety, a burden of responsibility for the news and fear of negative evaluation [22][23][24]. This stress creates a reluctance to deliver bad news.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Qualitative analysis of parents’ experience with receiving the news of the detection of their child's hearing loss

Gilbey

2010

International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

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“…The authors also describe how these conversations can be difficult to both initiate and conduct well, and can be significantly tainted by our own emotions. The guilt that we feel over our "failure" to cure the cancer can permeate into these discussions, make them stressful for us and the patient, and make us likely to avoid them altogether [4]. Indeed, for surgeons devoted to the care of cancer, our years of surgical training and our necessary belief in our surgical skills may contribute to our difficulty in admitting failure.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Acknowledging the Limitations of Treatment: Surrendering to Reality

Duska

2015

The Oncologist

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"We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell." -Lance ArmstrongIf cancer is a battle and treatment is the weapon, then what happens when the war ends and it is time to stop treatment? As authors Morgans and Schapira note, with many solid tumors, that time will come: when further cancer treatment is, at best, futile and, at worst, toxic and life threatening [1]. As oncologists, many of us feel that it is our job to "win" by "beating the cancer" and prolonging life, no matter what the cost. Using the war analogy, the oncologist is the opposing general, the strategist, and the one holding the secret weapons. Played to the end, it means that giving up on treatment is just that: surrendering. Our patients use this metaphor often when they ask us not to give up, to keep trying, to keep fighting."We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails." -AnonymousAs physicians, we know that we cannot always win the war against an individual's cancer. We also know that stopping cancer treatment does not mean we stop treating the patient. In fact, stopping cancer treatment can be liberating.We are no longer focusing our attention solely on the cancer, but instead are refocusing on the patient, her quality of life and symptom management, and her personal goals of care. Studies have shown that when we do this, when we focus on those aspects of palliative care medicine that encompass all domains of life, our patients live longer and better [2]. Then, why is it so hard for us as physicians to admit that the treatment is no longer working and it is time to stop active cancer treatment and segue into palliative care?Medical oncologists are not alone facing this question. Surgical oncologists also have a difficult time with this concept. Surgeons take pride in their technical skill in fixing problems, and we spend years training to be technical experts. Gynecologic oncologists, for example, take pride in their ability to optimally cytoreduce an ovarian cancer patient with advanced disease; there is something very gratifying about having the technical expertise to successfully remove all cancer in a complex operation, thereby providing the patient a survival advantage. On the other hand, there is nothing worse than having to tell a patient and her family that the surgery was unsuccessful: the tumor could not be removed; the bowel obstruction could not be fixed; there was nothing we could do.The inability to remove all tumor, even in the setting of exceptional surgical skill, feels like the ultimate failure.Morgans and Schapira do an excellent job of summarizing the key points of the SPIKES (setting, perception, invitation for information, knowledge, empathy, summarize and strategize) protocol, which is a tool designed to help oncologists structure discussions with patients at the end of treatment [3]. The authors also describe how these conversations can be difficult to both initiate and conduct well, and can be significantly tainted by our own emotions. The guilt that we feel over our "failure" to c...

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On the Reluctance to Communicate Undesirable Messages (The MUM Effect): A Field Study

Cited by 69 publications

References 1 publication

Structured Feedback Delivered in Small Groups

Structured Feedback Delivered in Small Groups

Qualitative analysis of parents’ experience with receiving the news of the detection of their child's hearing loss

Acknowledging the Limitations of Treatment: Surrendering to Reality

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