How do people perceive listeners?

Itzchakov, Guy, Haddock, Geoffrey ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5293-2772 and Smith, Sarah 2025. How do people perceive listeners? Royal Society Open Science

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Abstract

Listening is essential in shaping social interactions, relationships, and communication. While listening research has generated significant insights on how speakers benefit from good listening, one fundamental question has been largely overlooked: How do people perceive listeners? This gap is crucial for understanding how perceptions of listeners impact relational dynamics. In three studies (two preregistered; Total N = 1,509), we assessed the attributes and behaviors associated with good and bad listeners, and whether the favorability of these attributes and behaviors impact downstream consequences. In Study 1, participants identified an acquaintance they judged as a good or bad listener. Good listeners were rated higher in positive listening attributes and behaviors, which mediated their perceived warmth, competence, and values. Study 2 replicated this using a reverse correlation technique: one sample generated faces of a good or bad listener, which were then evaluated by a second, naïve sample. Consistent with Study 1, good listener faces were rated higher in positive listening attributes and behaviors, mediating perceptions of warmth, competence, humility, and values. Study 3 extended Study 2 by showing that the effects were not due to a general positivity bias, demonstrating the significant interpersonal consequences of being perceived as a good or bad listener.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	The Royal Society
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 March 2025
Date of Acceptance:	5 March 2025
Last Modified:	26 Mar 2025 11:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176969

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