Extending advice response theory to the advisor: Similarities, differences, and partner-effects in advisor and recipient advice evaluations

ABSTRACT

We extended advice response theory by drawing from construal-level theory to understand advisors’ evaluation processes and how advisors’ and recipients’ evaluations impact each other. An actor-partner interdependence model (N = 130 dyads) indicated, for both advisors and recipients, advisor expertise assessments were positively associated with advice facework and efficacy evaluations, which were positively associated with advice quality ratings. Advisors rated certain aspects of their advice more favorably than recipients, viewed absence of limitations as more important when rating advice quality, and were less influenced by their relational satisfaction when evaluating message features. We examined how recipient-to-advisor and advisor-to-recipient significant effects manifested in conversations using post-hoc qualitative analyses and found that behaviors are role-dependent and may reflect role-specific construal levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Advice
• interpersonal communication
• actor-partner interdependence model
• advice response theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Lisa M. Guntzviller (Ph.D., Purdue University) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research examines individual and dyadic goals, messages, and outcomes of complex interactions, such as advice, language brokering, or patient-provider conversations.

Danni Liao (M.A., University of Oklahoma) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on challenges in patient-provider communication, especially in cross-cultural care.

Manuel D. Pulido (M.A., Long Beach State) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research examines the role of uncertainty and social support in chronic pain and illness.

Chelsea P. Butkowski (M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. Her research examines mediated self-making practices and communication technologies.

Aaron D. Campbell (M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is a Project Implementation Specialist at Epic Systems. His research concerns how team and organizational dynamics are impacted by communication and technology.