“I Was Impolite to Her Because That's How She Was to Me”: Perceptions of Motive and Young Adults' Communicative Responses to Underaccommodation

Past research has shown that underaccommodation, defined as communication that at least one participant in an interaction perceives as insufficiently adjusted for his or her needs, has negative psychological consequences for recipients. However, we know relatively little about how people respond to it communicatively, and how perceptions of motive—which have been shown to influence psychological reactions—affect these responses. In two studies, six types of responses to underaccommodation were identified: asking questions, confronting, stopping the interaction, changing the subject, expressive nonverbal negative affect, and ignoring/playing along. The relationships between these responses, inferred motive, and psychological outcomes were also investigated. Perceptions of negative motive were found to positively predict participants' stopping the interaction and expressing nonverbal negative affect, and to negatively predict ignoring/ playing along. This constellation of communicative responses was also associated with more negative psychological outcomes, relative to other responses. Theoretical implications for communication accommodation theory are discussed.