The Evaluation of Advice in Supportive Interactions: Facework and Contextual Factors

Perceptions of advice in supportive interactions are known to be influenced by the threat advice poses to a recipient's face. However, research has given little attention to factors that may moderate the influence of face concerns on advice evaluations. This study examined how evaluator sex, target responsibility and effort, and advice content influenced evaluations of advice given bluntly, with aggravating facework, or with mitigating facework. Participants (N = 305) evaluated advice directed at a student depicted as upset about failing an exam. The student's responsibility and effort with regard to the failure was manipulated within scenarios. Facework was found to have a substantial main effect on evaluations of advice, with mitigating facework producing the most positive evaluations. This effect was moderated to varying degrees by each of the contextual factors examined.