Listener Response Strategies to a Distressed Other

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Abstract
Talking with someone who is distressed can be an emotionally provocative experience. When confronted with a distressed person, listeners have been found to employ a variety of response strategies, with varying effects on the troubled talker; and to experience, themselves, a range of feeling reactions. This study examined the association between a listener's response style and her affective reactions following a conversation with a distressed individual. Thirtyfemale subjects participated in a fifteen-minute dyadic interaction in which they talked with a confederate enacting a depressed role. Observational coding of listener response strategies revealed that subjects who relied on advice-giving, chit-chat and/or joking were significantly more depressed and more rejecting of their partners than were subjects who acknowledged the confederate's mood and who relied on supportive listening techniques. These findings suggest the importance of listener's behaviour in determining the outcomes of informal helping encounters.

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