Advice (also called exhortation) is a form of relating personal or institutional opinions, belief systems, values, recommendations or guidance about certain situations relayed in some context to another person, group or party. Advice is often offered as a guide to action and/or conduct. Put a little more simply, an advice message is advice about what might be thought, said, or otherwise done to address a problem, make a decision, or manage a situation.
Advice is believed to be theoretical, and is often considered taboo as well as helpful. The kinds of advice can range from systems of instructional and practical toward more esoteric and spiritual, and is often attributable toward problem solving, strategy seeking, and solution finding, either from a social standpoint or a personal one. Advice may pertain to relationships, lifestyle changes, legal choices, business goals, personal goals, career goals, education goals, religious beliefs, personal growth, motivation, inspiration and so on. Advice is not pertinent to any solid criteria, and may be given freely, or only given when asked upon. In some cultures advice is socially unacceptable to be released unless requested. In other cultures advice is given more openly. It may, especially if it is expert advice such as legal advice or methodological advice also be given only in exchange for payment.
Many expressions and quotations have been used to describe the status of advice, whether given, or received. One such expression is "Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't." (Erica Jong, How to Save Your Own Life, 1977). Advice is like water, you drink it to replenish your soul. This particular quotation pertains the belief system that states that the answers to one's questions are within themselves, and do not come from any external stimuli. The accuracy of this particular belief is often disputed among theologians, philosophers, etc. However, a person who would hold such a belief, would "advise" another person to seek the answers out from within one's own esoteric and inner spiritual natures.
Advice when adhered to and followed may be beneficial, non-beneficial, damaging, non-damaging, partially beneficial and partially damaging, in reference to personal or social paradigms. In other words, not all advice is either "all good" or "all bad". Many people consider unrequested advice to be paternalistic and patronizing and are thus offended.
Therefore, some people may come to the conclusion that advice is morally better to be left out of the equation altogether, and this theory is included within the following quote (author unknown): "The best advice is this: Don't take advice and don't give advice." Yet, often in society advice has been helpful. A more day to day example would be "eat your vegetables" or "don't drink and drive." If this advice is adhered to we can see that the benefits would outweigh the consequences.
Grammatically speaking, advice is an uncountable noun, like rice or milk. Clicheing or using a cliche, refers to mainstream advice that is overused. [1]
Advice-taking and advice-giving are of interest to researchers in the disciplines of psychology, economics, judgment and decision-making, organizational behavior and human resources, and human communication, among others. [2]
In psychology, seminal articles include Brehmer and Hagafors (1986), Hollenbeck et al. (1995), and Sniezek and Buckley (1995). [3] [4] [5] The Sniezek and Buckley (1995) and Hollenbeck et al. (1995) articles, in particular, introduced researchers to standardized ways of studying advice in the laboratory. [2] The psychological literature on advice-giving and advice-taking was reviewed by Bonaccio and Dalal (2006), and a portion of this literature was also reviewed by Humphrey et al. (2002). [2] [6]
Communication researchers have tended to study advice as part of their research on supportive communication. [7] [8] Much research has focused on gender differences (and similarities) in the provision and receipt of supportive communication. [9]
In economics, the willingness of entrepreneurs to take advice from early investors and other partners (i.e., entrepreneurial coachability) has long been considered a critical factor in entrepreneurial success. [10] At the same time, some economists have argued that entrepreneurs should not simply act on all advice given to them, even when that advice comes from well-informed sources, because the entrepreneurs themselves possess far deeper and richer local knowledge about their own firm than any outsider. Indeed, measures of advice-taking are not actually predictive of subsequent entrepreneurial success (e.g., measured as success in subsequent funding rounds, acquisitions, pivots, and firm survival).
In the social sciences in general, and in psychological research in particular, advice has typically been defined as a recommendation to do something. [2] For example, in response to a client's question regarding whether to invest in stocks, bonds, or T-notes, a financial planner (the advisor) might say: "I recommend going with bonds at this time." However, Dalal and Bonaccio (2010) have argued, based on a review of the research literature, that such a definition is incomplete and leaves out several important types of advice [11] [12] These authors have provided the following taxonomy of advice:
Of these four types of advice (and socio-emotional support, which is a related form of interpersonal assistance that often accompanies advice), Dalal and Bonaccio (2010) found that decision-makers reacted most favorably to the provision of information, because this form of advice not only increased decision accuracy but also allowed the decision-maker to maintain autonomy. [11]
Methodological advice concerns expert advice on research methodology. This kind of advice is, as opposed to some forms of advising mentioned above, usually initiated by the person who receives the advice, thus not unrequested. The goal of the advisor (see statistical consultant) is to guarantee the quality of research undertaken by their client, a researcher, by providing sound methodological advice. [13] The advice may take different forms. In some cases the advisor collaborates with a researcher in a more long-term process, and guides them through the more technical parts of the research (this type of advising is called longitudinal consultancy). In complex, longterm projects it is not uncommon for the advisor to help by doing part of the work themself (interactive consultancy). In other cases a researcher may have a specific question that can be answered in a brief conversation with a consultant (cross-sectional consultancy, or advisory consulting). [14] The advisors role can also take a didactic form, when the client is not familiar with suggested (statistical) methods. Sometimes the best advice is not statistically ideal, but is comprehensible for the client.
Depending on the function of the methodological advisor, the advice that is given may not be free. If a student conducts research commissioned by a professor, this professor will probably help this student for free, if needed. However, if a researcher contacts an independent advisor, this probably costs them. In this case the methodological advisor is basically being hired by the researcher. In other cases the advisor may be incorporated into research team, leading to co-authorship. It is advisable to make clear agreements about the advisors compensation on fore hand.
Researchers may seek advice on a wide range of subjects concerning their research. One of the major tasks of the methodological advisor is to help their clients think about what they really want to accomplish. This may involve helping them to formulate the research question and relatedly, the research hypothesis (see scientific hypothesis). Clients may also seek advice on the construction of a measurement instrument (for instance a psychological test). Or, they may want to know how to implement an appropriate research design. Often questions arise on how to analyze the data (see data analysis), and how to interpret and report the results (see scientific publishing).
A researcher will usually know more about the field in which the study is conducted than the methodological advisor. The advisor on the other hand will know more about the method. By combining their expertise and, through dialog and cooperation, researcher and consultant may achieve better, more reliable results. [15]
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets viewed as a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the concept, sometimes contrasting Eastern and Western approaches to leadership, and also North American versus European approaches.
Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight of hand as well as distraction, camouflage or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith. It can also be called, with varying subjective implications, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, or subterfuge.
Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior.
Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change, the goal of which is to modify an organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are typically initiated by the group's stakeholders. OD emerged from human relations studies in the 1930s, during which psychologists realized that organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation. More recently, work on OD has expanded to focus on aligning organizations with their rapidly changing and complex environments through organizational learning, knowledge management, and transformation of organizational norms and values. Key concepts of OD theory include: organizational climate, organizational culture and organizational strategies.
Survey methodology is "the study of survey methods". As a field of applied statistics concentrating on human-research surveys, survey methodology studies the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of survey data collection, such as questionnaire construction and methods for improving the number and accuracy of responses to surveys. Survey methodology targets instruments or procedures that ask one or more questions that may or may not be answered.
Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Educational and organizational psychology, business management, law, health, product design, ergonomics, behavioural psychology, psychology of motivation, psychoanalysis, neuropsychology and in psychiatry the mental health, and are just a few of the areas that have been influenced by the application of psychological principles and scientific findings. Some of the areas of applied psychology include counseling psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, engineering psychology, occupational health psychology, legal psychology, school psychology, sports psychology, community psychology, neuropsychology, medical psychology and clinical psychology, evolutionary psychology, human factors, forensic psychology, traffic psychology. In addition, a number of specialized areas in the general area of psychology have applied branches. However, the lines between sub-branch specializations and major applied psychology categories are often mixed or in some cases blurred. For example, a human factors psychologist might use a cognitive psychology theory. This could be described as human factor psychology or as applied cognitive psychology. When applied psychology is used in the treatment of behavioral disorders there are many experimental approaches to try and treat an individual. This type of psychology can be found in many of the subbranches in other fields of psychology.
Job satisfaction, employee satisfaction or work satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentedness with their job, whether they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or supervision. Job satisfaction can be measured in cognitive (evaluative), affective, and behavioral components. Researchers have also noted that job satisfaction measures vary in the extent to which they measure feelings about the job. or cognitions about the job.
Together, legal psychology and forensic psychology form the field more generally recognized as "psychology and law". Following earlier efforts by psychologists to address legal issues, psychology and law became a field of study in the 1960s as part of an effort to enhance justice, though that originating concern has lessened over time. The multidisciplinary American Psychological Association's Division 41, the American Psychology-Law Society, is active with the goal of promoting the contributions of psychology to the understanding of law and legal systems through research, as well as providing education to psychologists in legal issues and providing education to legal personnel on psychological issues. Further, its mandate is to inform the psychological and legal communities and the public at large of current research, educational, and service in the area of psychology and law. There are similar societies in Britain and Europe.
Organizational behavior (OB) or organisational behaviour is the: "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself". OB research can be categorized in at least three ways:
Power distance refers to the relationship between authority and subordinate individuals that depends on how the latter react to the former. It is an anthropological concept used in cultural studies to understand the relationship between individuals with varying power, the effects, and their perceptions. It uses the Power Distance Index (PDI) as a tool to measure the acceptance of power established between the individuals with the most power and those with the least. In these societies, power distance is divided into two categories that resemble a culture's power index; people in societies with a high power distance are more likely to follow a hierarchy where everybody has a place and does not require further justification, and high-ranking individuals are respected and looked up to. In societies with a low power distance, individuals aim to distribute power equally. Without regards to the same level of respect of high-power distance cultures, additional justification is often needed among those in low power distance societies. Research has also indicated that before any other relationships in a business can be established, a cross-cultural relationship must be formed first.
Theories of technological change and innovation attempt to explain the factors that shape technological innovation as well as the impact of technology on society and culture. Some of the most contemporary theories of technological change reject two of the previous views: the linear model of technological innovation and other, the technological determinism. To challenge the linear model, some of today's theories of technological change and innovation point to the history of technology, where they find evidence that technological innovation often gives rise to new scientific fields, and emphasizes the important role that social networks and cultural values play in creating and shaping technological artifacts. To challenge the so-called "technological determinism", today's theories of technological change emphasize the scope of the need of technical choice, which they find to be greater than most laypeople can realize; as scientists in philosophy of science, and further science and technology often like to say about this "It could have been different." For this reason, theorists who take these positions often argue that a greater public involvement in technological decision-making is desired.
The uncertainty reduction theory, also known as initial interaction theory, developed in 1975 by Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese, is a communication theory from the post-positivist tradition. It is one of the few communication theories that specifically looks into the initial interaction between people prior to the actual communication process. The theory asserts the notion that, when interacting, people need information about the other party in order to reduce their uncertainty. In gaining this information people are able to predict the other's behavior and resulting actions, all of which according to the theory is crucial in the development of any relationship.
A methodological advisor or statistical consultant provides methodological and statistical advice and guidance to clients interested in making decisions regarding the design of studies, the collection and analysis of data, and the presentation and dissemination of research findings. Trained in both methods and statistics, and communication skills, advisors may work in academia, industry, or the public sector.
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation.
Netnography, is a specific type of qualitative social media research. It adapts the methods of ethnography, is understanding social interaction in contemporary digital communications contexts. You can think of netnography as a particular set of actions for doing research within and about social media. Netnography is a specific set of research practices related to data collection, analysis, research ethics, and representation, rooted in participant observation. In netnography, a significant amount of the data originates in and manifests through the digital traces of naturally occurring public conversations recorded by contemporary communications networks. Netnography uses these conversations as data. It is an interpretive research method that adapts the traditional, in-person participant observation techniques of anthropology to the study of interactions and experiences manifesting through digital communications.
Consulting psychology is a specialty area of psychology that addresses such areas as assessment and interventions at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The Handbook of Organizational Consulting Psychology provides an overview of specific areas of study and application within the field. The major journal in the field is Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. Consulting psychologists typically work in business or non-profit organizations, in consulting firms or in private practice. Consulting psychologists are typically professionally licensed as psychologists.
Psychology encompasses a vast domain, and includes many different approaches to the study of mental processes and behavior. Below are the major areas of inquiry that taken together constitute psychology. A comprehensive list of the sub-fields and areas within psychology can be found at the list of psychology topics and list of psychology disciplines.
Interpersonal communication is an exchange of information between two or more people. It is also an area of research that seeks to understand how humans use verbal and nonverbal cues to accomplish a number of personal and relational goals.
A judge–advisor system (JAS) is a type of advice structure often studied in advice taking research, a subset of decision-making in the social sciences. The two roles in a JAS are the judge and advisor roles. The judge is the decision maker who evaluates information concerning a particular decision and makes the final judgment on the decision outcome. The advisor is an individual who provides advice, information, or suggestions to the judge. A key component of the dynamics in a JAS is the differentiation between the two roles in that while the advisor provides input to the decision, actual decision-making power resides solely with the judge. This one person decision power differentiates the JAS and related models such as Hollenbeck's Hierarchical Decision-Making Team model from more widely studied models where the final decision is mutually decided upon by the team as a whole.
Knowledge-Based Decision-Making (KBDM) in management is a decision-making process that uses predetermined criteria to measure and ensure the optimal outcome for a specific topic.