Abstract
Memories of rejection contribute to feeling lonely. However, high-quality listening that conveys well-meaning attention and understanding when speakers discuss social rejection may help them to reconnect. Speakers may experience less loneliness because they feel close and connected (relatedness) to the listener and because listening supports self-congruent expression (autonomy). Five experiments (total N = 1,643) manipulated listening during visualized (Studies 1, 4, 5) and actual (Studies 2, 3) conversations. We used different methods (video vignettes; in-person; computer-mediated; recall; written scenarios) to compare high-quality with regular (all studies) and poor (Study 1) listening. Findings across studies showed that high-quality listening reduced speakers’ state loneliness after they shared past experiences of social rejection. Parallel mediation analyses indicated that both feeling related to the listener and autonomy satisfaction (particularly its self-congruence component; Study 5) mediated the effect of listening on loneliness. These results provide novel insights into the hitherto unexplored effect of listening on state loneliness.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1273-1294 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |
Volume | 49 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
Keywords
- belongingness
- conversations
- interpersonal listening
- loneliness
- social influence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology