Verbal strategies for seeking help in organizations

The verbal strategies used to frame requests for help are integral to the h elp-seeking process. Drawing on politeness theory, it was predicted that ge nder, power, and norms affect usage of verbal strategies in seeking help, a nd verbal strategies predict interpersonal outcomes. Two studies showed tha t: (a) individuals used more strategies under collectivistic than individua listic norms; (b) under individualistic norms, men used more strategies whe n seeking help upward, and women used more strategies when seeking help lat erally: and (c) those who used more strategies provided higher quality info rmation, and were perceived more favorably by others. These results suggest that verbal strategies not only reflect important relational and contextua l factors, but also serve multiple social functions.