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 12 (4) 10.1098/rsos.241550

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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 = 1509), we assessed the attributes and behaviours associated with good and bad listeners, and whether the favourability of these attributes and behaviours 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 behaviours, 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 behaviours, 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
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	The Royal Society
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 March 2025
Date of Acceptance:	5 March 2025
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2025 11:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176969

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