Breaking Good and Bad News: Face-Implicating Concerns as Mediating the Relationship Between News Valence and Hesitation to Share the News

Abstract

Explanations for the hesitation to share bad news (i.e., the MUM effect) have emerged largely absent of an organizing theoretical framework. The current article aims to recast these explanations in terms of the face-related concerns senders anticipate when sharing bad news. Specifically, we questioned whether face-related concerns mediate the link between the valence of the news and the psychological reluctance and behavioral hesitation that are subsequently triggered in senders. Two samples (Ns = 138, 229) using different experimental methodologies revealed data consistent with mediation for two different concerns (fear of distressing the target, desire to avoid a negative mood). Implications for MUM effect research and limitations are discussed.

Keywords:

• Bad News
• Conversational Constraints Theory
• Face
• Mediation Analysis
• MUM Effect
• Politeness

Notes

Note. FRAER = fear of the receiver's anticipated emotional reaction, FDR = fear of distressing the receiver, FBEN = fear of being evaluated negatively, DANM = desire to avoid a negative mood, FEOOE = fear of expressing one's own emotion, FBEK = fear of being expected to know more than the sender does. For Sample 2, item referents were changed from “the test-taker” to “my friend.” Alphas are Cronbach's (1951) alphas.

Note. Standard deviations appear on the diagonal. FRAER = fear of the receiver's anticipated emotional reaction, FDR = fear of distressing the receiver, FBEN = fear of being evaluated negatively, DANM = desire to avoid a negative mood, FEOOE = fear of expressing one's own emotion, FBEK = fear of being expected to know more than the sender does.

*p < .05. **p < .01. All tests two-tailed.

Note. FRAER = fear of the receiver's anticipated emotional reaction, FDR = fear of distressing the receiver, FBEN = fear of being evaluated negatively, DANM = desire to avoid a negative mood, FEOOE = fear of expressing one's own emotion, FBEK = fear of being expected to know more than the sender does.

*p < .05. **p < .01. All tests two-tailed.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jayson L. Dibble

Jayson L. Dibble (PhD, 2008, Michigan State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Hope College.