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Conveying and detecting listening during live conversation.
Hanne K Collins1, Julia A Minson2, Ariella Kristal3
1Organizational Behavior Unit, Harvard Business School.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|November 16, 2023
Summary
People often misjudge conversational listening. Even when minds wander, individuals can feign attentiveness, leading others to overestimate how well they are being heard.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Communication Studies
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Positive perceptions of conversational listening are linked to well-being and success.
- Prior research has not empirically assessed the accuracy of perceived listening attentiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether individuals can accurately detect cognitive engagement (attentiveness) during live conversations.
- To determine if people can distinguish between attentive and inattentive listening behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Five studies employing correlational and experimental designs with 1,225 participants.
- Analysis of participants' ability to adjust listening (attentive, inattentive, divided attention) and partners' detection of these states.
Main Results:
- Perceivers significantly struggle to differentiate between attentive and inattentive listening.
- Speakers consistently overestimate their partners' attentiveness, often believing they are heard when they are not.
- Inattentive and attentive listening behaviors are largely indistinguishable, allowing individuals to feign attentiveness.
Conclusions:
- The accuracy of perceived listening is questionable, as individuals often overestimate their partners' attentiveness.
- People can effectively divide their attention and feign attentiveness during conversations.
- A distinction exists between feeling heard and actually being heard in live social interactions.
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