Older adults' responses to patronizing advice - Balancing politeness and identity in context

Following Okamoto and Robinson, two studies were conducted to extend the st udy of politeness in context to a consideration of hour older individuals r espond to advice delivered in a patronizing (impolite) or affirming (polite ) manner Study 1 involved older persons in focus groups that considered con texts for perceptions of; and responses to patronizing advice. Study 2 coll ected oral responses from other older individuals in a 2 (advice style: pat ronizing/affirming) x 2 (context: community/hospital) sign. Together, the s tudies showed that participants perceived at least five ways of responding to patronizing advice (appreciative, assertive, passive, ignoring, condesce nding) that vary from highly polite (appreciative) to polite to impolite (c ondescending). Results from Study 2 supported the hypothesis that evaluatio ns of advice and responses would show that the hospital context legitimates a patronizing advice style, consistent with the general framework of polit eness theory. Other results reinforced the complexity and challenges of usi ng the theory to interpret behaviors in context.