סמינרי מחקר 6.12.17

 

Good listeners create a myriad of benefits both for themselves (e.g., they perform better) and their interlocutors (e.g., they increase the wellbeing of the speaker).  Less is known, however, about whether good listening reflects traits of the listener, the speaker, or states that promote listening.  We propose that because listening, as dancing the tango, takes at least two cooperating partners, it is an inherently dyadic phenomenon.  Furthermore, we hypothesized that listening is correlated with intimacy, especially at the dyadic level.  To test these hypotheses, we employed the social relations model (SRM; Malloy & Albright, 2001; Malloy & Kenny, 1986; Warner, Kenny, & Stoto, 1979).  In Study 1, we obtained data from unacquainted students who conversed with each of three partners for six minutes and then rated listening quality and intimacy (N = 176 individuals in 44 round-robins groups producing 528 dyadic ratings).  In Study 2, we obtained data from acquainted teammates in various organizations who rated listening quality and intimacy (N = 108 individuals in 27 round-robins groups producing 324 dyadic ratings).  In both studies, we found that high or poor listening quality occurs primarily in specific dyads.  Moreover, only among acquainted teammates was there evidence that listening is, partly, a trait.  That is, good or poor listening is largely an emergent property of the dyadic interaction of specific people.  Moreover, listening and intimacy are correlated most strongly at the dyadic level.  Thus, listening research could be advanced by asking what makes a good listening dyad.