Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Young, S. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Factors that Influence Recipients’ Appraisals of Hurtful Communication

Stacy L. Young

California State University at Long Beach syoung3{at}csulb.edu

Interpersonal relationships provide a context in which hurtful messages are likely to be exchanged. This study examined the factors that influence recipients’ appraisals of hurtevoking messages. Specifically, this investigation examined three types of appraisals individuals make about a comment that hurt their feelings: the extent to which it reflects Concern, provides Comfort, or offers Help. Results revealed that both distal (e.g., relationship satisfaction and closeness) and proximal factors (e.g., message intensity and message hurtfulness) influenced recipients’ appraisals of hurtful statements. Interestingly, the only variable that was consistently a significant predictor of each type of appraisal was message intensity. How a message was stated was pivotal in shaping recipients’ appraisals of it. Given the importance of investigating how people navigate relational transgressions, the findings of the present study shed light on the factors that may help to promote less negative interpretations of hurtful communication in personal relationships.

Key Words: appraisals • contextual model of relational interaction • hurtful communication • perceived support • relational quality

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 21, No. 3, 291-303 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0265407504042833
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Social and Personal RelationshipsHome page
G. F. Bachman and L. K. Guerrero
Relational quality and communicative responses following hurtful events in dating relationships: An expectancy violations analysis
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, December 1, 2006; 23(6): 943 - 963.
[Abstract] [PDF]