Background: In many fields, active listening is considered an influential communication skill. While there has been an increasing amount of literature on active listening, there is little or hardly...Show moreBackground: In many fields, active listening is considered an influential communication skill. While there has been an increasing amount of literature on active listening, there is little or hardly any evidence of research about argumentative listening. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of active listening and argumentative listening to each other, in two different power settings: high power and low power, to see what difference these conditions make in the amount of shared information, feeling understood and social attractiveness. Design: 120 participants were randomly assigned to a 2x2 design. After writing down a story about a conflict, the participant engaged in a 5-minute conversation with a confederate. The power condition roles were manipulated and the confederate listened actively or argumentatively. Results: People share more information, feel more understood and evaluate the other person as more socially attractive when the listener is listening actively, compared to argumentatively. The power manipulation was not successful so no conclusions can be drawn in relation to perceived power differences. An explorative analysis suggested that with a stronger power manipulation there could be a difference in power settings and feeling understood, where in an argumentative listening setting, a person in high power could feel more understood than a person in low power. Conclusion: People do not only respond to an overall level of responsiveness of a listener, but the way someone is responding also matters. This study showed that we should listen to understand, not to reply.Show less
Active listening (AL) is an important leadership skill within the workplace. It is essential to investigate a possible causal association between AL, employee well-being and other measures....Show moreActive listening (AL) is an important leadership skill within the workplace. It is essential to investigate a possible causal association between AL, employee well-being and other measures. Therefore, the main question of this research is: “What is the effect of extraversion and gender on active listening skills of leaders in organisations and how does this skill relates to employee well-being?” A questionnaire was spread among 374 Dutch employees. The results showed that AL-skills of a leader have a positive relation with employee well-being. Also, female leaders apply active listening more often compared to male leaders. The results pointed out that extraversion does not have a negative relation with the AL-skills of leaders in organisations. Furthermore, Female leaders are better at AL compared to male leaders, but this difference is not larger for non-extravert leaders compared to extravert leaders. Future longitudinal research should confirm the causality between the variables.Show less
