(Press-News.org) Contact information: Bettye Miller
bettye.miller@ucr.edu
951-827-7847
University of California - Riverside
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
UC Riverside researchers find that where positive information comes in a bad-news conversation can influence outcomes
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — There's good news and there's bad news. Which do you want to hear first?
That depends on whether you are the giver or receiver of bad news, and if the news-giver wants the receiver to act on the information, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside.
It's complicated.
The process of giving or getting bad news is difficult for most people, particularly when news-givers feel unsure about how to proceed with the conversation, psychologists Angela M. Legg and Kate Sweeny wrote in "Do You Want the Good News or the Bad News First? The Nature and Consequences of News Order Preferences." The paper appears online in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the official journal for the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.
"The difficulty of delivering bad news has inspired extensive popular media articles that prescribe 'best' practices for giving bad news, but these prescriptions remain largely anecdotal rather than empirically based," said Legg, who completed her Ph.D. in psychology in October, and Sweeny, assistant professor of psychology.
In a series of experiments, the psychologists found that recipients of bad news overwhelmingly want to hear that bad news first, while news-givers prefer to deliver good news first. If news-givers can put themselves in the recipient's shoes, or if they're pushed to consider how to make the recipient feel better, then they might be willing to give news like recipients want them to. Otherwise, a mismatch is almost inevitable.
But that's not the whole story. The researchers also determined that where good news is introduced in a conversation can influence the recipient's decision to act or change his or her behavior.
Legg and Sweeny noted that numerous websites and management handbooks recommend the "bad news sandwich" strategy — that is, a pattern of good-bad-good delivery of information. "Our findings suggest that the primary beneficiary of the bad news sandwich is news-givers, not news-recipients," they said. "Although recipients may be pleased to end on a high note, they are unlikely to enjoy anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop during the initial good news."
Hiding bad news won't be really effective if the desire is to change somebody's behavior, such as encouraging them to get a prescription filled or lab work done, said Legg, the paper's lead author.
"If you're a manager, a bad news sandwich can make people feel good, but it might not help them improve their behavior," she added. The bad news sandwich may make the recipient less defensive, but the intended message may get lost and leave the receiver confused, she added. This study suggests that news-recipients would benefit from a good-then-bad news order when the bad news is useful to them.
"It's so complicated. It's important to fit the delivery to the outcome goal," Legg explained. "If you're a physician delivering a diagnosis and prognosis that are severe, where there is nothing the patient can do, tell them the bad news first and use positive information to help them accept it. If there are things a patient can do, give them the bad news last and tell them what they can do to get better."
The study has important implications for communication in many domains, the researchers said.
"Doctors must give good and bad health news to patients, teachers must give good and bad academic news to students, and romantic partners may at times give good and bad relationship news to each other," they wrote. "Our findings suggest that the doctors, teachers and partners in these examples might do a poor job of giving good and bad news because they forget for a moment how they want to hear the news when they are the patients, students, and spouses, respectively. News-givers attempt to delay the unpleasant experience of giving bad news by leading with good news while recipients grow anxious knowing that the bad news is yet to come. This tension can erode communication and result in poor outcomes for both news-recipients and news-givers."
INFORMATION:
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
UC Riverside researchers find that where positive information comes in a bad-news conversation can influence outcomes
2013-11-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Positive results for non surgical heart valve replacement
2013-11-05
Positive results for non surgical heart valve replacement
MAYWOOD, Il. – Loyola University Medical Center is the only Chicago hospital participating in a landmark clinical trial of an artificial aortic heart valve that does not require open heart surgery.
First ...
Acupuncture effects on neuropathic pain: A study on signal pathways
2013-11-05
Acupuncture effects on neuropathic pain: A study on signal pathways
Peripheral or central nerve injury often leads to neuropathic pain, a chronic condition that can manifest behaviorally as spontaneous pain, hyperalgesia and allodynia, and which also results in neurological ...
Brain structure in post-traumatic stress disorder
2013-11-05
Brain structure in post-traumatic stress disorder
Wars, earthquakes, major traffic accidents, and terrorist attacks may bring about profound spiritual pains, and even cause extreme fear and helplessness for people that have experienced or witnessed these unusual ...
Treadmill step training promotes motor function after incomplete spinal cord injury
2013-11-05
Treadmill step training promotes motor function after incomplete spinal cord injury
A large body of evidence shows that spinal circuits are significantly affected by training, and that intrinsic circuits that drive locomotor tasks are located in lumbosacral spinal ...
Scientists use light to uncover the cause of sickle cell disease
2013-11-05
Scientists use light to uncover the cause of sickle cell disease
In sickle cell disease, hemoglobin—the oxygen-carrying component of blood—forms fibers that stiffen red blood cells and cause life-threatening symptoms. Using light-scattering techniques to study the detailed ...
New findings could overcome major stumbling blocks to tissue cryopreservation for medical care
2013-11-05
New findings could overcome major stumbling blocks to tissue cryopreservation for medical care
The oldest ice core
2013-11-05
The oldest ice core
Finding a 1.5 million-year record of Earth's climate
How far into the past can ice-core records go? Scientists have now identified regions in Antarctica they say could store information about Earth's climate and greenhouse gases extending as ...
SCIENCE CHINA chemistry special topic: Extraction of uranium from seawater
2013-11-05
SCIENCE CHINA chemistry special topic: Extraction of uranium from seawater
2013 No.11 issue of SCIENCE CHINA Chemistry published a special topic on extraction of uranium from Seawater recently.
Owing to the fast economic growing and the concern over greenhouse gases and ...
VC predicts the motion of the ocean
2013-11-05
VC predicts the motion of the ocean
ANU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Young AO, has just published research that will help you every morning with the surf report.
Research led by the Vice-Chancellor will allow oceanographers and meteorologists to better ...
Emissions pricing revenues could overcompensate profit losses of fossil fuel owners
2013-11-05
Emissions pricing revenues could overcompensate profit losses of fossil fuel owners
Yet the instrument of pricing global CO2 emissions could generate a revenue of 32 trillion US dollars over the 21st century, exceeding by far the ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model
Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection
Sensing sickness
Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas
Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses
Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.
Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis
KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision
Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response
Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid
Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia
Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients
Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years
Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations
New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients
New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans
Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production
New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination
Study examines lactation in critically ill patients
UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award
Doubling down on metasurfaces
New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders
Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana
PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation
ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy
How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease
A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet
Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice
Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast
Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds
[Press-News.org] Do you want the good news or the bad news first?UC Riverside researchers find that where positive information comes in a bad-news conversation can influence outcomes