Inattentive listening undermines self-verification in personal storytelling.
Two studies explore the narrative construction of self-perceptions in conversational storytelling among pairs of same-sex friends. Specifically, the studies examined how listener behavior can support or undermine attempts to self-verify in personal storytelling. In two studies (n=100 dyads), speakers told attentive, distracted, or disagreeable (Study 1 only) friends about a recent experience. Distracted, but not disagreeable, friends tended to undermine participants' attempts to verify their self-perception of being interested in an activity (Study 1) or their self-perception that an event was typical for them (Study 2). These results support the notion that friends can be an important source of influence on self-perceptions and, perhaps surprisingly, suggest that responsiveness from friends, rather than agreement per se, may be crucial for supporting self-verification processes.
Pasupathi
Monisha
M
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA. pasupathi@psych.utah.edu
Rich
Ben
B
D001288:Attention; D001290:Attitude; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D033262:Narration; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support; D013060:Speech