The Effects of Argument Explicitness on Responses to Advice in Supportive Interactions

This study assessed whether explicit articulations of a proposal's efficacy, feasibility, absence of limitations, and use of facework are effective strategies of advice giving in supportive interactions. Two hundred forty-eight college students read and responded to a hypothetical scenario in which they received advice from a friend. The findings of this study demonstrated that advice was more effective (resulting in higher perceptions of advice quality and facilitation of coping, as well as stronger intention to implement the advice) when advice givers outlined the efficacy of the advised action, explained the feasibility of undertaking the advised action, addressed the potential limitations of the advised action, and employed politeness strategies when giving advice. The study further found that perceptual counterparts of the manipulated message features largely mediated the effects of the message variations on the dependent variables.