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Research on advice in supportive interactions indicates that receptiveness to advice (the extent to which advice is wanted) has a strong influence on how advice is evaluated. The current study examined situational and trait predictors of advice receptiveness, including characteristics of the advice-giver (expertise, closeness to the recipient, history of influence on the recipient's behavior), characteristics of the problem for which the advice is received (problem seriousness, responsibility for the problem), and characteristics of the advice recipient (sex, expressivity, instrumentality). Participants (N = 280) completed questionnaires reporting on a recent instance of receiving advice with regard to a personal problem. Results indicated that closeness had the strongest impact on receptiveness to advice, followed by expertise and expressivity. Women were more receptive to advice than men but the difference was small and mediated by expressivity.
Due to well-evidenced and positive relationships between social support and health, communication researchers are giving increased attention to the study of supportive interactions (see review by Burleson & MacGeorge, 2002). Although much of this research has focused on the provision of emotional support (e.g., Jones & Guerrero, 2001; Samter, 2002), recent work has examined instrumental support, especially the communication of advice (e.g., Goldsmith, 2000; MacGeorge, Lichtman, & Pressey, 2002). Advice is a ubiquitous element of supportive interactions (e.g., Cutrona & Suhr, 1994; Goldsmith & Dun, 1997), but one that elicits widely varying responses from recipients. It is sometimes perceived as appropriate and helpful but is also, not infrequently, viewed as inappropriate and insensitive (e.g., Dakof & Taylor, 1990; Lehman, Ellard, & Wortman, 1986). To date, research on advice in supportive interactions has focused on identifying factors that help to explain varied responses to advice. These factors include the sensitivity or "facework" with which advice is given (e.g., Goldsmith & MacGeorge, 2000; MacGeorge et al., 2002), aspects of advice content (e.g., feasibility of the advised action, MacGeorge, Feng, Butler, & Budarz, 2004), conversational sequencing of advice (Goldsmith, 2000), and the support-seeker's receptiveness to advice (e.g., Goldsmith & Fitch, 1997; MacGeorge, Feng et al., 2004).
Receptiveness to advice may be defined as the extent to which a distressed individual is willing or ready to receive advice from others with respect to a problematic situation. This concept is distinct from evaluations of...