Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically ... more Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically focused on individual level processes. Alternatively, we hypothesized that perceptions of listening quality are inherently dyadic, positively reciprocated in dyads, and are correlated positively with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, at the dyadic level. In two studies, teammates rated each other on listening and intimacy; in one, they also rated speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, totaling 324 and 526 dyadic ratings, respectively. In both , social relations modeling suggested that the dyad level explained over 40% of the variance in both listening and intimacy, and yielded the predicted positive dyadic reciprocities (dyad members tend to rate each other similarly). Furthermore, listening perceptions correlated with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping reported by other workers, primarily at the dyadic level. Moreover, rating of listening, but not of speaking, by one dyad member, predicted intimacy reported by the other dyad member, and that intimacy, in turn, predicted helping-organizational-citizenship behavior. Counterintuitively, listening quality is more a product of the unique combination of employees than an individual difference construct. We conclude that perceived listening, but not perceived speaking, appears to be the glue that binds teammates to each other dyadically, and consequently affects helping.
We examined how listeners characterized by empathy and a non-judgmental approach affect speakers’... more We examined how listeners characterized by empathy and a non-judgmental approach affect speakers’ attitude structure. We hypothesized that high quality listening decreases speakers’ social anxiety, which in turn reduces defensive processing. This reduction in defensive processing was hypothesized to result in an awareness of contradictions (increased objective-attitude ambivalence), and decreased attitude extremity. Moreover, we hypothesized that experiencing high quality listening would enable speakers to tolerate contradictory responses, such that listening would attenuate the association between objective- and subjective-attitude ambivalence. We obtained consistent support for our hypotheses across four laboratory experiments that manipulated listening experience in different ways on a range of attitude topics. The effects of listening on objective-attitude ambivalence were stronger for higher dispositional social anxiety and initial objective-attitude ambivalence (Study 4). Over...
We tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to experience psychological sa... more We tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to experience psychological safety and our hypothesis that the benefit of listening for psychological safety is attenuated by avoidance-attachment style. We tested these hypotheses in six laboratory experiments, a field correlational study, and a scenario experiment. We meta-analyzed the results of the laboratory experiments and found that listening increased psychological safety on average but that the variance between the experiments was also significant. The between experiment variance in the effect of listening manipulation on psychological safety exposes a methodological challenge in choosing a research paradigm of good-versus-normal listening, as opposed to normal-versus-poor listening. More importantly, we found, as expected and across all designs, that the higher the avoidanceattachment style was, the lower the effect of listening on psychological safety. This finding has implications both for practice and for placing a theoretical boundary on Rogers's theory.
Listeners are known to influence the quality of the speaker's narrative (Bavelas, Coates, & Johns... more Listeners are known to influence the quality of the speaker's narrative (Bavelas, Coates, & Johnson, 2000; Pasupathi & Rich, 2005). However, the revere is not clear: Does narration quality influence listening quality? We hypothesized that (a) speakers influence the quality of listening because when they share a meaningful story they maker listeners listen well, and (b) that story-induced listening is positively associated with psychological safety and negatively associated with social anxiety (Rogers, 1951). We tested these hypotheses in three experiments, were we randomly assigned 30, 52 and 44 Israeli students to listening and speaking roles and either to a meaningful ("In the next six minutes please tell your partner about a meaningful event that you have experienced") or to a descriptive narrative condition ("… tell your partner about your daily routine" in Study 1and Study 2; and "… describe the structures in the university and its area." inStudy3). In Study 2 and Study 3, we also assessed the manipulation with a narrativequality manipulation check. Indeed, in these studies, listeners in the meaningful narrative condition rated it as having a higher narrative quality than listeners in the descriptive-narrative condition, d = 0.83, p < .01; d = 1.59, p < .01. More important, in all experiments, speakers rated the listeners of meaningful narratives, in contrast to descriptive narratives, as better listeners , d = 0.64, p = .04; d = 0.61, p = .02, and d = 1.10, p <.01, respectively. Moreover, we found that the listening induced by the narrative quality mediated the effects of narrative condition on psychological safety, and social anxiety (Study 3). Thus, the narrative determines listening: sharing meaningful stories makes people listen well and good listening benefits the narrator by increasing feeling of psychological safety and decreasing feeling of social anxiety.
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2018
While research suggests that individuals may increase their own creativity by listening to other'... more While research suggests that individuals may increase their own creativity by listening to other's ideas, the effects of being listened to by others have remained understudied to date. We hypothesized that listening behavior of superiors may positively impact employees to explore new ideas flexibly, leading to higher levels of creativity. We further hypothesized this link to be mediated by psychological safety. Therefore, we developed and tested a mediated model of listening behavior, psychological safety and creativity at the individual level. In a series of five complementary studies, we found evidence for the hypothesized effects using self-report, supervisor-report, and objective measures of creativity, while excluding alternative explanations such as reversed causality with experimental designs. A meta-analysis of all our studies provided compelling evidence that listening was related to creativity, N = 744, k = 5, = .39, 95% CI [.13; .60]. Together, our results suggest that supervisor listening may be an underrated aspect of management that fosters creativity.
Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically ... more Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically focused on individual level processes. Alternatively, we hypothesized that perceptions of listening quality are inherently dyadic, positively reciprocated in dyads, and are correlated positively with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, at the dyadic level. In two studies, teammates rated each other on listening and intimacy; in one, they also rated speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, totaling 324 and 526 dyadic ratings, respectively. In both , social relations modeling suggested that the dyad level explained over 40% of the variance in both listening and intimacy, and yielded the predicted positive dyadic reciprocities (dyad members tend to rate each other similarly). Furthermore, listening perceptions correlated with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping reported by other workers, primarily at the dyadic level. Moreover, rating of listening, but not of speaking, by one dyad member, predicted intimacy reported by the other dyad member, and that intimacy, in turn, predicted helping-organizational-citizenship behavior. Counterintuitively, listening quality is more a product of the unique combination of employees than an individual difference construct. We conclude that perceived listening, but not perceived speaking, appears to be the glue that binds teammates to each other dyadically, and consequently affects helping.
In this study, we tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to
experience p... more In this study, we tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to experience psychological safety, and our hypothesis that the benefit of listening for psychological safety is attenuated by avoidance-attachment style. We tested these hypotheses in six laboratory experiments, a field correlational study, and a scenario experiment. We meta analyzed the results of the laboratory experiments and found that listening increased psychological safety on average, but that the variance between the experiments was also significant. The between experiment variance in the effect of listening manipulation on psychological safety exposes a methodological challenge in choosing a research paradigm of good-versus-normal listening, as opposed to normal-versus-poor listening. More importantly, we found, as expected and across all designs, that the higher the avoidance-attachment style was, the lower the effect of listening was on psychological safety. This finding has implications both for practice and for placing a theoretical boundary on Rogers's theory.
We hypothesized that (a) when people share a meaningful story, as opposed to when they share
info... more We hypothesized that (a) when people share a meaningful story, as opposed to when they share information, they make their partner listen well, and (b) that narrative-induced listening is positively associated with speakers’ psychological safety and negatively associated with their social anxiety. In Study 1 (N = 45), we showed that a meaningful story is perceived much more as a narrative and higher in narrative quality than two types of informational-discourses (telling about daily routine and describing buildings). In Study 2 (N = 52), we randomly asked participants to either share a meaningful story or tell about their daily routine. The participants sharing a meaningful story reported that their interlocutor was a better listener, d = 0.61, 95% CI |0.32, 0.92|. In Study 3 (N = 42), we compared the effect of sharing a meaningful story to describing buildings, and replicated the results of Study 2, d = 1.10, 95% CI |0.61, 1.59|. Moreover, we found that the perceived listening, which was induced by the narrative, mediated the manipulation effects on psychological safety, and social anxiety. Thus, we concluded that when speakers share meaningful stories they make their partner listen well and consequently experience higher psychological safety and lower feelings of social anxiety.
Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically ... more Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically focused on individual level processes. Alternatively, we hypothesized that perceptions of listening quality are inherently dyadic, positively reciprocated in dyads, and are correlated positively with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, at the dyadic level. In two studies, teammates rated each other on listening and intimacy; in one, they also rated speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, totaling 324 and 526 dyadic ratings, respectively. In both , social relations modeling suggested that the dyad level explained over 40% of the variance in both listening and intimacy, and yielded the predicted positive dyadic reciprocities (dyad members tend to rate each other similarly). Furthermore, listening perceptions correlated with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping reported by other workers, primarily at the dyadic level. Moreover, rating of listening, but not of speaking, by one dyad member, predicted intimacy reported by the other dyad member, and that intimacy, in turn, predicted helping-organizational-citizenship behavior. Counterintuitively, listening quality is more a product of the unique combination of employees than an individual difference construct. We conclude that perceived listening, but not perceived speaking, appears to be the glue that binds teammates to each other dyadically, and consequently affects helping.
We examined how listeners characterized by empathy and a non-judgmental approach affect speakers’... more We examined how listeners characterized by empathy and a non-judgmental approach affect speakers’ attitude structure. We hypothesized that high quality listening decreases speakers’ social anxiety, which in turn reduces defensive processing. This reduction in defensive processing was hypothesized to result in an awareness of contradictions (increased objective-attitude ambivalence), and decreased attitude extremity. Moreover, we hypothesized that experiencing high quality listening would enable speakers to tolerate contradictory responses, such that listening would attenuate the association between objective- and subjective-attitude ambivalence. We obtained consistent support for our hypotheses across four laboratory experiments that manipulated listening experience in different ways on a range of attitude topics. The effects of listening on objective-attitude ambivalence were stronger for higher dispositional social anxiety and initial objective-attitude ambivalence (Study 4). Over...
We tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to experience psychological sa... more We tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to experience psychological safety and our hypothesis that the benefit of listening for psychological safety is attenuated by avoidance-attachment style. We tested these hypotheses in six laboratory experiments, a field correlational study, and a scenario experiment. We meta-analyzed the results of the laboratory experiments and found that listening increased psychological safety on average but that the variance between the experiments was also significant. The between experiment variance in the effect of listening manipulation on psychological safety exposes a methodological challenge in choosing a research paradigm of good-versus-normal listening, as opposed to normal-versus-poor listening. More importantly, we found, as expected and across all designs, that the higher the avoidanceattachment style was, the lower the effect of listening on psychological safety. This finding has implications both for practice and for placing a theoretical boundary on Rogers's theory.
Listeners are known to influence the quality of the speaker's narrative (Bavelas, Coates, & Johns... more Listeners are known to influence the quality of the speaker's narrative (Bavelas, Coates, & Johnson, 2000; Pasupathi & Rich, 2005). However, the revere is not clear: Does narration quality influence listening quality? We hypothesized that (a) speakers influence the quality of listening because when they share a meaningful story they maker listeners listen well, and (b) that story-induced listening is positively associated with psychological safety and negatively associated with social anxiety (Rogers, 1951). We tested these hypotheses in three experiments, were we randomly assigned 30, 52 and 44 Israeli students to listening and speaking roles and either to a meaningful ("In the next six minutes please tell your partner about a meaningful event that you have experienced") or to a descriptive narrative condition ("… tell your partner about your daily routine" in Study 1and Study 2; and "… describe the structures in the university and its area." inStudy3). In Study 2 and Study 3, we also assessed the manipulation with a narrativequality manipulation check. Indeed, in these studies, listeners in the meaningful narrative condition rated it as having a higher narrative quality than listeners in the descriptive-narrative condition, d = 0.83, p < .01; d = 1.59, p < .01. More important, in all experiments, speakers rated the listeners of meaningful narratives, in contrast to descriptive narratives, as better listeners , d = 0.64, p = .04; d = 0.61, p = .02, and d = 1.10, p <.01, respectively. Moreover, we found that the listening induced by the narrative quality mediated the effects of narrative condition on psychological safety, and social anxiety (Study 3). Thus, the narrative determines listening: sharing meaningful stories makes people listen well and good listening benefits the narrator by increasing feeling of psychological safety and decreasing feeling of social anxiety.
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2018
While research suggests that individuals may increase their own creativity by listening to other'... more While research suggests that individuals may increase their own creativity by listening to other's ideas, the effects of being listened to by others have remained understudied to date. We hypothesized that listening behavior of superiors may positively impact employees to explore new ideas flexibly, leading to higher levels of creativity. We further hypothesized this link to be mediated by psychological safety. Therefore, we developed and tested a mediated model of listening behavior, psychological safety and creativity at the individual level. In a series of five complementary studies, we found evidence for the hypothesized effects using self-report, supervisor-report, and objective measures of creativity, while excluding alternative explanations such as reversed causality with experimental designs. A meta-analysis of all our studies provided compelling evidence that listening was related to creativity, N = 744, k = 5, = .39, 95% CI [.13; .60]. Together, our results suggest that supervisor listening may be an underrated aspect of management that fosters creativity.
Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically ... more Listening has powerful organizational consequences. However, studies of listening have typically focused on individual level processes. Alternatively, we hypothesized that perceptions of listening quality are inherently dyadic, positively reciprocated in dyads, and are correlated positively with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, at the dyadic level. In two studies, teammates rated each other on listening and intimacy; in one, they also rated speaking ability, and helping-organizational-citizenship behavior, totaling 324 and 526 dyadic ratings, respectively. In both , social relations modeling suggested that the dyad level explained over 40% of the variance in both listening and intimacy, and yielded the predicted positive dyadic reciprocities (dyad members tend to rate each other similarly). Furthermore, listening perceptions correlated with intimacy, speaking ability, and helping reported by other workers, primarily at the dyadic level. Moreover, rating of listening, but not of speaking, by one dyad member, predicted intimacy reported by the other dyad member, and that intimacy, in turn, predicted helping-organizational-citizenship behavior. Counterintuitively, listening quality is more a product of the unique combination of employees than an individual difference construct. We conclude that perceived listening, but not perceived speaking, appears to be the glue that binds teammates to each other dyadically, and consequently affects helping.
In this study, we tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to
experience p... more In this study, we tested both Rogers's hypothesis that listening enables speakers to experience psychological safety, and our hypothesis that the benefit of listening for psychological safety is attenuated by avoidance-attachment style. We tested these hypotheses in six laboratory experiments, a field correlational study, and a scenario experiment. We meta analyzed the results of the laboratory experiments and found that listening increased psychological safety on average, but that the variance between the experiments was also significant. The between experiment variance in the effect of listening manipulation on psychological safety exposes a methodological challenge in choosing a research paradigm of good-versus-normal listening, as opposed to normal-versus-poor listening. More importantly, we found, as expected and across all designs, that the higher the avoidance-attachment style was, the lower the effect of listening was on psychological safety. This finding has implications both for practice and for placing a theoretical boundary on Rogers's theory.
We hypothesized that (a) when people share a meaningful story, as opposed to when they share
info... more We hypothesized that (a) when people share a meaningful story, as opposed to when they share information, they make their partner listen well, and (b) that narrative-induced listening is positively associated with speakers’ psychological safety and negatively associated with their social anxiety. In Study 1 (N = 45), we showed that a meaningful story is perceived much more as a narrative and higher in narrative quality than two types of informational-discourses (telling about daily routine and describing buildings). In Study 2 (N = 52), we randomly asked participants to either share a meaningful story or tell about their daily routine. The participants sharing a meaningful story reported that their interlocutor was a better listener, d = 0.61, 95% CI |0.32, 0.92|. In Study 3 (N = 42), we compared the effect of sharing a meaningful story to describing buildings, and replicated the results of Study 2, d = 1.10, 95% CI |0.61, 1.59|. Moreover, we found that the perceived listening, which was induced by the narrative, mediated the manipulation effects on psychological safety, and social anxiety. Thus, we concluded that when speakers share meaningful stories they make their partner listen well and consequently experience higher psychological safety and lower feelings of social anxiety.
Uploads
Papers by Dotan R Castro
experience psychological safety, and our hypothesis that the benefit of listening for
psychological safety is attenuated by avoidance-attachment style. We tested these hypotheses in six laboratory experiments, a field correlational study, and a scenario experiment. We meta analyzed the results of the laboratory experiments and found that listening increased psychological safety on average, but that the variance between the experiments was also significant. The between experiment variance in the effect of listening manipulation on psychological safety exposes a methodological challenge in choosing a research paradigm of good-versus-normal listening, as opposed to normal-versus-poor listening. More importantly, we found, as expected and across all designs, that the higher the avoidance-attachment style was, the lower the effect of listening was on psychological safety. This finding has implications both for practice and for placing a theoretical boundary on Rogers's theory.
information, they make their partner listen well, and (b) that narrative-induced listening is positively
associated with speakers’ psychological safety and negatively associated with their social anxiety.
In Study 1 (N = 45), we showed that a meaningful story is perceived much more as a narrative and
higher in narrative quality than two types of informational-discourses (telling about daily routine
and describing buildings). In Study 2 (N = 52), we randomly asked participants to either share a
meaningful story or tell about their daily routine. The participants sharing a meaningful story reported
that their interlocutor was a better listener, d = 0.61, 95% CI |0.32, 0.92|. In Study 3 (N = 42), we
compared the effect of sharing a meaningful story to describing buildings, and replicated the results
of Study 2, d = 1.10, 95% CI |0.61, 1.59|. Moreover, we found that the perceived listening, which
was induced by the narrative, mediated the manipulation effects on psychological safety, and social
anxiety. Thus, we concluded that when speakers share meaningful stories they make their partner
listen well and consequently experience higher psychological safety and lower feelings of social
anxiety.
experience psychological safety, and our hypothesis that the benefit of listening for
psychological safety is attenuated by avoidance-attachment style. We tested these hypotheses in six laboratory experiments, a field correlational study, and a scenario experiment. We meta analyzed the results of the laboratory experiments and found that listening increased psychological safety on average, but that the variance between the experiments was also significant. The between experiment variance in the effect of listening manipulation on psychological safety exposes a methodological challenge in choosing a research paradigm of good-versus-normal listening, as opposed to normal-versus-poor listening. More importantly, we found, as expected and across all designs, that the higher the avoidance-attachment style was, the lower the effect of listening was on psychological safety. This finding has implications both for practice and for placing a theoretical boundary on Rogers's theory.
information, they make their partner listen well, and (b) that narrative-induced listening is positively
associated with speakers’ psychological safety and negatively associated with their social anxiety.
In Study 1 (N = 45), we showed that a meaningful story is perceived much more as a narrative and
higher in narrative quality than two types of informational-discourses (telling about daily routine
and describing buildings). In Study 2 (N = 52), we randomly asked participants to either share a
meaningful story or tell about their daily routine. The participants sharing a meaningful story reported
that their interlocutor was a better listener, d = 0.61, 95% CI |0.32, 0.92|. In Study 3 (N = 42), we
compared the effect of sharing a meaningful story to describing buildings, and replicated the results
of Study 2, d = 1.10, 95% CI |0.61, 1.59|. Moreover, we found that the perceived listening, which
was induced by the narrative, mediated the manipulation effects on psychological safety, and social
anxiety. Thus, we concluded that when speakers share meaningful stories they make their partner
listen well and consequently experience higher psychological safety and lower feelings of social
anxiety.