Hesitation to Share Bad News: By-Product of Verbal Message Planning or Functional Communication Behavior?

Authors

Jayson L. Dibble, Hope CollegeFollow
Amy M. Wisner
Lauren Dobbins
Michael Cacal
Emiko Taniguchi
Aili Peyton
Lisa van Raalte
Andra Kubulins

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2015

Publication Source

Communication Research

Volume Number

42

Issue Number

2

First Page

213

Last Page

236

Publisher

Sage Publications Inc.

ISSN

0093-6502

Abstract

Research on bad news delivery reveals a reliable temporal delay in the onset of the bad news message from the sender to the receiver. Two experiments utilized a false feedback test design to determine whether the delay is better accounted for by negative verbal message planning, politeness, or both. Both studies (Ns = 135 and 138) featured participant-senders who delivered either scripted or unscripted good, neutral, or bad news to a stranger. News valence, delay before response, and reluctance were measured. Both experiments supported the functional politeness explanation. Study 2 also supported the negative verbal message-planning explanation. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Keywords

Mum Effect, Bad News, Reluctance, Cognitive Biases, Interpersonal Communication, Negative Feedback, Negativity Bias, Transmission, Reluctance, Difficult, Goals

Recommended Citation

Published in: Communication Research, Volume 42, Issue 2, March 1, 2015, pages 213-236. Copyright © 2015 Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA.