Confident Bastards: The Influence Of Advisor Confidence And Likeability On Advice Taking

Advice taking has been researched in many different areas. Previous literature shows multiple factors can affect the likelihood of someone taking advice. For example, people are typically more likely to follow advice when the advice is expressed confidently rather than in an unsure manner (Gaertig & Simmons, 2018). Additionally, when people report a higher liking of the advice giver, they are more likely to follow the advice (Bo Feng & MacGeorge, 2010). Given what is known about the influence of confidence and likeability on advice taking, the current study combined these factors to examine whether the influence of confidence depends on how much one likes the advisor. Advisor likeability was manipulated by having the participant read a passage they believed an advisor wrote depicting the advisor as either likeable or unlikeable. Next, participants received advice expressed confidently or in an unsure manner from this advisor regarding a number of trivia questions. Lastly, participants answered the questions. Participants were more likely to take the advice expressed confidently as compared to in an unsure manner. The advisors’ likeability did not significantly impact levels of advice taking, and the influence of confidence was similar regardless of whether the advisor was liked or disliked.