We examined how the experience of high-quality listening (attentive, empathic, and nonjudgmental) impacts speakers’ basic psychological needs and state self-esteem when discussing the difficult topic of a prejudiced attitude. Specifically, we hypothesized that when speakers discuss a prejudiced attitude with high-quality listeners, they experience higher autonomy, relatedness, and self-esteem than speakers who share their prejudiced attitude while experiencing moderate listening. We predicted that autonomy need satisfaction would mediate the effect of listening on speakers’ self-esteem even when relatedness, a well-documented predictor of self-esteem, is controlled for in mediation models. Two experiments that manipulated listening through in-person interactions with high-quality or moderate listeners supported these hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, with a focus on the role of experiencing high-quality listening for speakers’ state self-esteem during difficult conversations.

中文翻译：

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在讨论偏见时，高质量的聆听支持说话者的自主权和自尊心

我们研究了在讨论带有偏见的态度这一困难话题时，高质量聆听（专心、移情和不带偏见）的体验如何影响说话者的基本心理需求和状态自尊。具体来说，我们假设当说话者与高质量的听众讨论偏见态度时，他们体验到的自主性、关联性和自尊程度高于在经历适度倾听的同时分享偏见态度的说话者。我们预测，即使在中介模型中控制了相关性（一个有据可查的自尊预测指标）时，自主需求的满足也会调节倾听对说话者自尊的影响。通过与高质量或中等听众的面对面互动来操纵听力的两项实验支持了这些假设。