The impact of politeness and relationship on perceived quality of advice about a problem

Advice is a common but potentially problematic way to respond to someone who is distressed. Politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987) suggests advice threatens a hearer's face and predicts that the speaker‐hearer relationship and the use of politeness strategies can mitigate face threat and enhance the effectiveness of advice messages. Students (N=384) read 1 of 16 hypothetical situations that varied in speaker power and closeness of the speaker‐hearer relationship. Students then read 1 of 48 advice messages representing different politeness strategies and rated the message for regard shown for face and for effectiveness. However, neither speaker‐hearer relationship nor politeness strategies was consistently associated with perceived threat to face or perceived advice effectiveness. We suggest revisions to politeness theory and additional factors that may affect judgments of face sensitivity and advice effectiveness.     

The influence of negative advertising frames on political cynicism and politician accountability

This research examined the influence of negative political advertising frames on the thoughts and feelings people generate in response to campaign advertising. Preparing and conducting this investigation involved the use of a multiple‐method strategy. Content analysis identified two advertising frames (i.e., candidate theme and ad hoc issue advertisements) and two experiments separately induced political cynicism and politician accountability. Three hundred and sixty people participated in the experimental studies, in which they read and responded, using a thought‐listing technique, to candidate theme or ad hoc issue negative advertisements. Results demonstrated that participants were more likely to generate cynical comments and hold politicians accountable for the country's ills when reading candidate theme advertisements than ad hoc issue advertisements. The results indicate that this contributes to a political climate of cynicism and may function to erode the electorate's overall trust in government.     

Golf players exhibit changes to grip speed parameters during club release in response to changes in club stiffness

The influence of golf club stiffness on driving performance is currently unclear, and it is possible that this ambiguity is due in part to golfer adaptation to equipment. The purpose of the current study was to elucidate mechanisms of adaptation to club stiffness, during the golf swing, by employing tendon vibration to distort proprioceptive feedback. Vibration (～50 Hz, ～1 mm amplitude) was applied to the upper extremities of 24 golfers using DC motors with eccentric weights. Golfers hit golf balls in a laboratory setting using three clubs of varying shaft stiffness, and club kinematics were recorded using high speed (180 Hz) digital cameras. The results demonstrated significant slowing of the club grip during club release for a high-stiffness shaft with vibration. This suggests that, when proprioceptive feedback is available, players adapt to changes in club stiffness by modifying the release dynamics of the club late in the downswing.