Active Listening in Peer Interviews The Influence of Message Paraphrasing on Perceptions of Listening Skill.pdf

THEINTL. JOURNAL OF LISTENING, 24:34-49, 2010
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ¡ ^ g
ISSN: 1090-4018 print / 1932-586X online S m Taylor & Francis Croup
DOI : 10.1080/10904010903466311
Active Listening in Peer Interviews:
The Influence of Message Paraphrasing
on Perceptions of Listening Skill
Harry Weger, Jr., Gina R. Castle, and Melissa C. Emmett
Nicholson School of Communication
University of Central Florida
Perhaps no communication skill is identified as regularly as active listening in train-
ing programs across a variety of disciplines and activities. Yet little empirical
research has examined specific elements of active listening responses in terms of
their effectiveness in achieving desired interpersonal outcomes. This study reports
an experiment designed to test the influence of a specific element of active listening
responses, namely, the message paraphrase. One hundred and eighty undergraduate
students participated in peer interviews in which they received either a paraphrased
reflection or a simple acknowledgement in response to their expressed opinions
regarding comprehensive examinations. The results of data analysis indicated that
message paraphrases were associated with the social attractiveness of the listener
but were not associated with participants' conversational satisfaction or perceptions
of feeling understood by the listener.
The importance placed on interpersonal communication skills training has
reached nearly every comer of the cultural landscape in the United States, including
books and courses in skills training spanning fields such as law enforcement (e.g.,
Wallace & Robertson, 2003), pharmaceutical care (Meldrum, 1994), business
(Bartolomé, 1993), and Christian ministry (Neff, 2006), to name a few. Interper-
sonal skills training is an important element in applying communication theory to
the real world. One skill routinely recognized in both popular treatments of improv-
ing interpersonal skills as well as basic interpersonal communication textbooks is
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Harry Weger, Jr.. Nicholson
School of Communication. University of Central Florida, Oriando, FL 32816. E-mail: hweger@
pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

ACTIVE LISTENING IN PEER INTERVIEWS 3 5
"active listening." Although this skill has become a ubiquitous element in com-
munication skills training in marriage counseling (for a review see Cole & Cole,
1999), crisis counseling (Mishara & Daigle, 1997), nursing practices (Edwards,
Peterson, & Davies, 2006), caring for Alzhiemer's patients (Sifton, 2002), educa-
tion (Jalongo, 1995), psychotherapeutic training (Lester, 2002), and sales skills
(Comer & Drollinger, 1999), it has not received the attention it deserves in the
social science literature. This study examines active listening in a nontherapeutic,
noncrisis management kind of everyday encounter. More specifically, this report
describes an experiment testing the effectiveness of active listening responses in
peer interviews.
ACTIVE LISTENING DEFINED
The term "active listening" was formally coined by Gordon (1975) as a descrip-
tion of a set of verbal and nonverbal skills essential to effective parent-child com-
munication although the roots of active listening can be found in earlier
scholarship. Active, or empathie, listening (see also speaker-listener technique,
e.g., Stanley, Bradbury, & Markman, 2000) can be traced to Carl Rogers (1951)
as a cornerstone of his humanistic psychology (Orlov, 1992). Active listening, as
most generally defined, is an attempt to demonstrate unconditional acceptance
and unbiased reflection by a therapist of a client's experience. Active listening
requires that the listener try to understand the speaker's own understanding of an
experience without the listener's own interpretive structures intruding on his or
her understanding of the other person. Since its introduction, active listening has
become a ubiquitous element of communication training programs across a vari-
ety of fields both inside and outside therapeutic settings.
In the field of communication, almost all of the most popular interpersonal com-
munication textbooks include a treatment of active listening (e.g., Canary, Cody, &
Manusov, 2003; Devito, 2007; Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor, 2006; Trenholm &
Jensen, 2004; Verderber & Verderber, 2004; Wood, 1998). Although there are
slight variations from text to text, most treatments of active listening, both in inter-
personal texts and therapeutic literature, include at least three elements. The first
element involves communicating nonverbal involvement/immediacy. Active (or
empathie) listeners need to communicate to the speaker that they are involved and
giving the person unconditional attention (e.g., Levitt, 2001). Second, active listen-
ing involves paraphrasing the speaker's message (both content and feelings) by
restating, in the listener's own words, what the listener thinks the speaker is trying
to say (e.g., Trenholm & Jensen, 2004). This must be done without making judg-
ments about the speaker's message. Finally, most treatments of active listening
suggest that the listener ask questions to encourage the speaker to elaborate on his
or her beliefs or feelings (e.g., Devito, 2(X)7).

3 6 WEGER, CASTLE, AND EMMETT
The purpose of an active listening response is that a listener, especially a per-
son who is in a helping relationship with the speaker, can demonstrate an under-
standing of the speaker's message without judgment. An active listening
response huilds empathy and trust with the speaker hy showing unconditional
regard for him/her and confirming his/her experience. In addition, reflecting a mes-
sage's meaning without judgment might help the therapeutic client (or theoretically
any other speaker) hetter understand his own feelings (e.g., Lester, 2002).
REVIEW OF ACTIVE LISTENING RESEARCH
To date, two main hodies of empirical research examine active listening. One
corpus of research concerns the assessment of methods for training people to per-
form active listening across a variety of situations. One context of active listening
training in the literature involves counselor training. In general, the research sug-
gests that active listening is a trainahle skill and that training in active listening
skills increases therapists overall listening skills. For example, Paukert, Stagner,
and Hope (2004) were able to improve the active listening skills of helpline
volunteers and found that active listening training continued to have an effect for
at least nine months after training. Levitt (2001) found that counseling students'
listening skills improved with active listening training. Miller, Hedrick, and
Orlofsky (1991) also report success in improving crisis intervention counselors'
empathie listening skill hy training them in active listening. Professionals in
related areas also seem to henefit from active listening training. For example,
hostage negotiators significantly improved their listening skill after completing
an active listening training program (Van Hasselt et al,, 2006). Active listening
training not only improved hostage negotiators' listening skills but also reduced
negotiators' tendency to engage in problem solving with the hostage taker, which
can be detrimental to positive outcomes if done too early in a crisis negotiation
(Van Hasselt et al., 2006).
Nonprofessionals can also learn active listening skills. Graybill (1986), for
example, found that an active listening training program for parents resulted in
improved active listening skill (as rated by a counselor) from pretest to post-
test. In addition. Cole and Rice (1996) report successfully training married
couples to use a communication skills set based on Guerney's (1977) speaker-
listener model (i.e., active listening) and that couples continued to retain these
skills after one year. Garland (1981) also gives an account of successfully
training married couples to use active listening. Overall, the literature suggests
that active listening is a trainable skill for both counseling professionals and
lay people alike.
The second body of empirical research examines the effectiveness of active
listening in producing positive outcomes for the listener, speaker, and/or the

relationship. First, some research suggests active listening appears to benefit the
person who engages in active listening. For example, beginning counseling
students receiving specific micro-skill training in active listening consider them-
selves more effective as counselors and receive higher ratings from their supervi-
sors in a variety of counseling skills (Levitt, 2001). Education students training
for positions as teachers also perceived themselves to be better listeners after
active listening training (McNaughton et al., 2008). In addition, parents trained in
active listening skills felt less anxious and more confident about their ability to
handle problems with their adolescent children (e.g., Graybill, 1986). In an
examination of strategies for dealing with crying children in a Scandinavian day
care center, Lisper and Nilsson (1982) found that parents' active listening
responses resulted in shorter durations of crying than two other strategies tested.
In addition, Davidson and Versluys (1999) found that brief training in active lis-
tening, among a number of other skills, increased use of active listening during
conflict interactions and use of active listening during the conflicts increased
likelihood of agreement between the parties.
Research examining the effects of active listening on the recipients of active
listening responses produces few clear conclusions. Almost no studies report
clear and unambiguous results showing participants reporting more positive
perceptions of active listeners (or of conversations with an active listener) than
conversation partners engaging in other styles of listening or responding. For
example, Graybill (1986) found that children of parents trained to use active lis-
tening did not report noticing a difference in their parents' communication
behavior. Furthermore, Graybill found neither attitudinal nor behavioral changes
in children resulting from their parents' use of active listening. This result echoes
previous studies examining the use of active listening in parental training and
child behavior outcomes (e.g.. Stover & Guerney, 1967). In addition, a study of
helpline volunteer counseling sessions found that participants perceived advice
giving to be more helpful than empathie (i.e., active) listening responses (Libow
& Doty, 1976), and a national study examining a suicide prevention hotline
found that active listening did not predict the outcome of such calls (Mishara
et al., 2007). Scholl (2002) found that college counseling clients preferred
advice-giving over active listening early in the counselor-client relationship. In
addition. Garland (1981) tested the effect of active listening training in marital
enrichment programs. Although the couples trained in active listening became
more accurate in their perceptions of their spouse's attitudes and feelings, they
did not experience an increase in their satisfaction with their partner, nor did they
rate their partners to be more skillful communicators. Finally, a Japanese study
found that employees' with lower levels of psychological stress associated with
their job had supervisors who self-reported more use of active listening skills
(Mineyama et al., 2007). It is impossible to determine a cause and effect relation-
ship from this study, however, because an increase in self-reported use of active

listening skills may be a result of talking with stressed employees. For example,
research suggests that the initial level of a patient's anxiety is associated with
the physician's use of active listening, but the physician's active listening does
not predict the patient's subsequent anxiety (Fassaert, Dulmen, Schellevis, &
Bensing, 2007).
Even though many of the studies reviewed above fail to find a clear advantage
for active listening, some researchers suggest that active listening skills result in
positive outcomes for couples who undergo communication skills classes. In
response to an article that argues active listening does not predict marital well-
being (Gottman, Coan, Carrère, & Swanson, 1998), Stanley, Bradbury, and
Markman (2000) argue that active listening plays an important role in communi-
cation skills training courses aimed at improving marital functioning. A review
of studies suggests that measurable improvements in marital functioning in com-
munication result from communication skills training (Stanley, Bradbury, &
Markman, 2000). However, improvements in marital functioning tied specifi-
cally to active listening do not dominate the literature. One notable, although
unpublished, study by Cole and Rice (1996) did find a positive association
between the use of active listening and marital quality.
Perhaps part of the confusion about the effectiveness of active listening
involves the conflation of the elements of an active listening response. First,
much of the data involving marital skills training involves active listening as only
one of the skills taught to the couples. Studies that involve specific active listen-
ing training, such as Garland's (1981) work, might come to different conclusions
than studies that employ broader communication skills training because the pre-
cise nature of the skills being taught differ among the studies. Second, some stud-
ies focus on the verbal elements of active listening, such as reflection of a
speaker's message, whereas others include elements of nonverbal responsive-
ness, questioning, or reflecting emotional elements of a message. Some research
suggests that simply appearing to be concerned with the speaker produces posi-
tive perceptions of the listener regardless of the listener's specific verbal
responses (e.g., Libow & Doty, 1976). It is possible that nonverbal elements of
active listening communicate care and concern more powerfully than specific
verbal behaviors such as paraphrasing, questioning, giving advice, or reflecting
emotional content of messages. Another possibility for the lack of compelling
evidence for the utility of active listening, especially in marriage or family inter-
action, concerns the context in which married couples acquire active listening
skills. Even if a troubled couple or parent-child dyad learns a skill such as active
listening, one dyad member's successful production of the newly learned behavior
may not translate directly into the other's perception of improved communication,
goodwill toward the relationship, or any other more enduring perceptions of the
partner or relationship. The relationship history and the established pattern of
attributions and interpretations possibly obscure the influence of active listening.

Because the lion's share of research examining perceptions of an active listener
comes from studies of enduring relationships, it seems important to try to deter-
mine the effectiveness of active listening responses when applied to everyday
encounters between strangers or acquaintances.
The design of this experiment attempts to create a better understanding of how
active listening responses influence perceptions of an active listener in two ways.
First, this study focuses on only the verbal element (i.e., paraphrasing the
speaker's message) of the active listening response. Paraphrasing a speaker's
message is one element common to all treatments of active listening, empathie
listening, and the speaker-listener technique. Reflecting a speaker's message
through paraphrasing demonstrates that the listener has understood what the
speaker is trying to communicate, thereby confirming the speaker's experience as
valid and significant. Maintaining moderately immediate nonverbal cues while
varying the verbal response will provide some insight into how people perceive
the paraphrasing element of active listening. The second way this study attempts
to clarify the effectiveness of active listening involves the application of the skill
in the relatively familiar context of an interview. Employment interviews, health
interviews with medical professionals, and mental health counseling all involve a
one-way information exchange in which one person asks questions while the
other person provides answers. Communicating in a familiar interaction context
with a stranger most closely approximates the kind of interaction for which active
listening was designed. Studying active listening in the context of a peer inter-
view between strangers also reduces the possibility that previous experience with
the partner will color message recipients' perceptions of the listener. In addition,
much of the literature on active listening involves interviews or interview-like
situations. For example, helpline volunteers counseling callers, nurses interview-
ing patients about illnesses, or therapists' initial interviews of clients at the begin-
ning of therapy all center on a context in which communication essentially flows
in one direction. Finally, interviews focus the interaction on the interviewee's
responses and place the interviewer squarely in the role of a listener, so that lis-
tening behaviors should be specifically related to interviewee's perceptions of
their partner.
PERCEPTIONS OF LISTENING SKILL
Three interrelated perceptions of listening skill (one direct, two indirect) serve as
the dependent variables in this analysis. First, the degree to which participants
feel understood by the interviewer serves as a direct measure of listening skill.
Perceived understanding was chosen because active listening is specifically
designed to help a recipient feel understood and valued. Paraphrasing and
requesting elaboration should, theoretically, result in increased receiver perceptions

4 0 WEGER. CASTLE, AND EMMETT
of successfully communicating his or her ideas and ultimately be more satisfying.
Also, perceived understanding is an important perceptual element in communica-
tion given its association with establishing and maintaining satisfying relation-
ships (e.g., Cahn, 1990). Because active listening is designed specifically to
increase a person's feelings of being understood, the first hypothesis states:
HI: Active listening will be associated with higher levels of perceived under-
standing than simple acknowledgements.
The degree to which the participants perceive the interviewer to be socially
attractive operates as the second measure of interviewer listening skill. Because
people like good listeners better than poor listeners, social attraction functions as
an indirect measure of listening skill. Social attraction is conceptualized as the
belief that the target person would be pleasant to spend time with or enjoyable as
a member of one's social circle (McCroskey, McCroskey, & Richmond, 2006).
Active listening, as a therapeutic technique in client centered therapy, aims to
communicate support and unconditional positive regard for the other. People
tend to be more socially attracted to others who support their way of thinking
about the world (Byrne, 1997; Byrne & Clore, 1970). For example. Powers, Jordan,
Gurley, and Lindstrom (1986) found person centered messages rated as more
socially attractive than nonperson-centered messages. Therefore, we expect par-
ticipants to perceive interviewers who actively listen to be more socially attrac-
tive than interviewers who do not. The following prediction follows from this
analysis:
H2: Active listening will be associated with higher levels of social attractive-
ness than simple acknowledgements.
Communication satisfaction comprises the third element of listener skill
examined in this study. Communication satisfaction involves the reward value a
person places on a conversation from having his or her expectations met (Hecht,
1978). Hecht (1978) posits that communication satisfaction is an affective response
activated by rewarding environmental stimuli. Active listening ought to increase
satisfaction with the conversation when compared to simple acknowledgement
responses because active listening communicates acceptance and validation of
the interviewee's experience. Even though simple verbal responsiveness and
nonverbal immediacy acknowledge the interviewee's message, these behaviors
do not provide endorsement or imply the significance of the message or message
producer. Therefore, the third hypothesis makes the following prediction:
H3: Active listening will be associated with higher levels of communication
satisfaction than simple acknowledgement.

ACTtVE LISTENING tN PEER tNTERVtEWS 41
METHODS
Participants and Procedures
Participants for this study were 180 undergraduates enrolled in basic public
speaking courses at a large southeastern university. The sample comprised
100 females and 80 males with a mean age of 18,5 years. Participants were
recruited by telling them that the state university system was considering adopt-
ing a comprehensive examination policy similar to the one used in the state's
high schools as a requirement for graduation. The participants were told that they
were being asked for their feedback and were invited to share their feelings about
this possible policy with members of the student government who were gathering
students' perceptions for a report to the administration. The interviews were
being held during class time and instructors awarded extra credit for participants'
participation. The announcement was made by undergraduate research assistants
followed by a request for volunteers to be interviewed. A research assistant
escorted participants to one of three rooms in the Communication Building for
interviews. Once interviews were completed, participants completed a survey
that contained a bogus measure of their attitudes toward state university compre-
hensive examinations and measures of conversational satisfaction, social attrac-
tiveness of the interviewer, and feelings of understanding/misunderstanding. The
final three measures were presented as "quality control" items used by the stu-
dent government to assess the interviewers' skill and courtesy. Once all volun-
teers from a particular class finished their interviews, participants were debriefed
and thanked for their participation.
Stimulus Conditions
The independent variable of interest in this analysis is the message paraphrase
element of an active listening response. Three interviewers, two of whom had
completed an interpersonal communication course and one who was currently
enrolled in the course, were trained to paraphrase messages in response to an
interviewee. One interviewer was male (n = 88 interviews) and two of the
interviewers were female (n = 66 interviews and 31 interviews, respectively).
Training included a one-hour discussion of paraphrasing and practice activities to
work on at home. A subsequent one-hour meeting checked interviewer's ability
to properly respond with a paraphrased message through role plays between one
co-author and one interviewer using two different scenarios. The interviewers'
responses were evaluated by the principle investigators as meeting the criteria of
a properly executed paraphrase. The control condition (i.e., simple acknowledge-
ment) involved interviewers responding to interviewees with verbal responses
which express simple acknowledgement and understanding of the speaker's

message such as "O.K.," "That's great," and so forth. Interviewers were
instructed to remain equally involved nonverbally during both conditions by
maintaining eye contact, a slight forward lean, and remaining moderately, but not
overly, relaxed in appearance. Checks during role plays indicated that interview-
ers were able to maintain consistent levels of nonverbal involvement across
conditions.
Dependent Measures
Perceived Understanding
The degree to which participants perceived to be understood by their inter-
viewer was measured using the state version of the Feelings of Understanding/
Misunderstanding Scale (Cahn, 1983). The Feelings of Understanding/Misunder-
standing Scale (FUMS) measures the degree to which a communicator feels
understood by another communicator. The FUMS is computed by asking partici-
pants to indicate the degree to which (5 = very great; 1 - none) they experienced
each of 24 feelings (e.g., "annoyance," "pleasure," "sadness") during their con-
versation with their interviewer (eight items are feelings associated with feeling
understood, eight items are feelings associated with feeling misunderstood, and
eight items are distracters). Cahn (1983) inductively generated the target feelings
from an open ended question asking participants to list feelings they experience
when they feel understood or misunderstood. A feelings of understanding scale is
computed by summing over the items related to feeling understood. A feelings of
misunderstanding scale is computed by summing over the items associated with
feeling misunderstood. The overall FUMS is then computed by subtracting the
feelings of understanding scale from the feelings of misunderstanding scale. The
higher the score, the more a participant felt understood during the conversation
with the interviewer. Evidence exists for both the validity and reliability of the
instrument (Cahn & Shulman, 1984). Data gathered for this study also suggest
that the instrument is reliable, a - .88, across all understanding and misunder-
standing items.
Social Attraction
Social attraction is conceptualized as the degree to which a person is per-
ceived to be attractive as an interaction partner. Social attraction is operational-
ized in this analysis by McCroskey, McCroskey, and Richmond's (2006)
measure of social attractiveness. Participants rate their agreement or disagree-
ment (5 = strongly agree; 1 = strongly disagree) with each of 12 statements (e.g.,
"I could become close friends with her/him," "I would like to have a friendly chat
with her/him"). Scale scores were computed by computing the mean across a
participant's responses to individual items. McCroskey et al. found the scale to

be a reliable measure. The data from this analysis also indicated that McCroskey
et al.'s measure meets acceptable levels of reliability, a= .92.
Conversational Satisfaction
Conversational satisfaction was measured using Hecht's (1978) Interper-
sonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory (Com-Sat). The Com-Sat is a
self-report measure that index's a person's perception that his/her experience
during an interaction with another person provided positive reinforcement
and fulfilled positive expectations (Hecht, 1978). Participants responded to
12 items by indicated their agreement or disagreement (5 = strongly agree;
1 = strongly disagree) with each statement (e.g., "I was very satisfied with the
conversation," "We each got to say what we wanted"). Scale scores were
computed by computing the mean across a participant's responses to individual
items Evidence exists for both the reliability (Hecht, 1978), and validity of the
instrument (Newton & Burgoon, 1990; Spitzberg, 1991). Data gathered for
this project also indicate that the measure meets conventional levels of reliabil-
ity, a = .91.
RESULTS
Cross Validation of the Instruments
In order to cross-validate the instruments, zero-order correlations were computed
across conditions for the social attraction, conversational satisfaction, and feel-
ings of understanding/misunderstanding scales. As Table 1 indicates, all three
scales were significantly and positively correlated. The data indicate that partici-
pants who felt understood were more satisfied with the conversation and liked
their partner more than those who did not feel understood. These results indicate
that all three scales relate to the others in predictable ways.
TABLE 1
Pearson Correlations Among Dependent Variables in the Analyses
Variable I 2 3
I.FUMS' 1 .53* .42*
2. Conversational Satisfaction 1 .71*
3. Social Attraction I
Notes: 'FUMS = Feelings of Understanding/Misunderstanding Scale.
*Correlation is significant al the .01 level (2-tailed).

TABLE 2
Descriptive Statistics Across Conditions for the Dependent Variables
Perceived Social Conversational
Understanding Attraction Satisfaction
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Paraphrase' 11.93a 9.22 3.66a .63 3.44a .68
Simple Acknowledgement IO.4.ia 9.49 3.45b .73 3.66a .67
Notes: 'n = 100 for paraphrase group; n = 80 for simple acknowledgement group.
Means with different subscripts are significantly different at the p = .05 level.
Hypotheses 1-3
The hypotheses were tested by computing t-tests with the listening condition as
the independent variable and perceived understanding (HI), social attraction
(H2), and conversational satisfaction (H3) as the dependent variables (see Table 2).
Results of data analysis indicate support for H2, i(178) = 2.00, p = .045, r-.5,
but not for HI, i(178) = 1.10, p = .25, or for H3, i(I78) = .78, p = .48.'
DISCUSSION
This study undertook an experimental examination of the message paraphrase
element of active listening responses in informational interviews. This study is
the first attempt known to the authors that measures the immediate experiences of
recipients of active listening paraphrases in actual interactions. Results of data
analyses suggest that the reception of active listening paraphrases associate with
an increase in interviewees' social attraction for the interviewer. It appears that,
in peer interviews, paraphrasing a speaker's message increases perceptions of the
listener's likeability. Listeners who paraphrase a speaker's message communi-
cate interest in, and perhaps tacit endorsement of, the speaker's message and per-
haps create a greater sense of closeness or immediacy between the interviewer
and the interviewee. It might be that the sense of immediacy increases percep-
tions of social attractiveness. For example, research in classroom settings indi-
cate that verbal immediacy correlates positively with positive affect toward the
teacher (Christensen & Menzel, 1998).
It is also possible that paraphrasing is a verbal analogue to nonverbal mimicry.
People tend to mimic each other during interactions (for a review, see Lakin,
'Levene's test for equality of variance was insignificant (indicating equal variances across condi-
tions) for all dependent variables.

Jefferis, Cheng, & Chartrand, 2003), and they tend to mimic people they like
more than people they dislike (e.g., Karrenmans & Verwijmeren, 2008). Specifi-
cally, Chartrand and Bargh (1999) found that people liked interaction partners
who mimicked them more than people who did not mimic them. Mimicry may
function nonconsciously as an affiliation strategy to increase liking between part-
ners and to help interactions proceed smoothly (e.g., Cheng & Chartrand, 2003).
Paraphrasing, since it involves repeating a slightly modified version of the
speaker's message, might serve as a verbal form of mimicry. Since mimicry
research focuses almost exclusively on nonverbal behaviors, this may be an
important area to follow up on for future research.
Several implications for the usefulness of active listening in applied contexts
emerge from the link between message paraphrasing and liking. First, people
tend to disclose more information to those they initially like than to people whom
they dislike (Collins & Miller, 1994), This suggests the usefulness of applying
message paraphrasing as a way to elicit more information from interviewees.
Second, several scholars and practitioners suggest active listening is an important
communication tool for building rapport with hostage takers in crisis situations
(e.g.. Miller, 2005; Vechhi, Van Hasselt, & Romano, 2005). Although interviews
are different from hostage negotiations in obvious ways, the results of the present
study seem to confirm the usefulness of message paraphrasing as a strategy for
building rapport.
Contrary to expectations, paraphrased messages by the interviewers did not
increase interviewees' feeling that the interviewer understood them, nor did para-
phrased messages increase participants' satisfaction with the conversation. There
are at least two possible explanations for these results. First, people may attend
more to nonverbal than verbal cues in judging how they feel about an interaction
or about the degree to which they feel understood. Cues such as smiling, a con-
cerned facial expression, eye contact, and so forth could play a larger role than
verbal cues to the listener's interest and concern. Research in a variety of settings
suggests that cues that communicate sincere concern and interest for the speaker,
no matter how they are expressed, outweigh particular types of verbal strategies
such as advice giving or questioning (e.g., Libow & Doty, 1976). This possibility
suggests that interviewees are not as infiuenced by what the interviewer commu-
nicates verbally.
A second explanation for the failure of paraphrased messages to produce an
increase in conversational satisfaction or perceived understanding lies in the con-
versational task used in the experiment. The impersonal nature of the peer inter-
views perhaps reduced interviewees' motivation or interest to attend to the
interpersonal aspects of the interaction thereby decreasing awareness of, or inter-
est in, the interviewers' responses. The relatively small standard deviations for
conversational satisfaction (about two-thirds to three-fourths of a scale point for
all variables), and relatively neutral (slightly leaning positive) appraisals of the

4 6 WECER, CASTLE, AND EMMETT
interactions, overall seem to indicate that participants did not find the interactions
particularly enjoyable no matter the behavior of the interviewer. Likewise, a lack
of variation in perceived understanding scores^ might also suggest that the dis-
cussion topic, and/or the structure of the interaction, might not lend themselves
well to evoking the particular feelings associated with being understood as mea-
sured by the FUMS, Message paraphrasing in particular, and active listening in
general, might only make a substantial impact when messages have implications
for a person's desire to be confirmed (i,e,, understood) by their conversational
partner. In addition, Sunnafrank's (1986, 1988) research suggests that some judg-
ments about a conversation or a conversation partner are motivated by the pros-
pect of future interaction. Judgments of the level of enjoyment of a conversation
or feelings associated with being understood might have limited relevance to an
interviewee engaged in a one-time discussion about an impersonal topic.
LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Although this study represents the beginning of a program looking closely at the
influence of active listening responses in interpersonal interaction, some caution
should be taken when interpreting the results of this experiment. First, only three
interviewers were used in this study, limiting the potential for an analysis of vari-
ation across interviewers. It is possible that the effect of message paraphrasing
depends on individual differences among listeners. For example, it is possible
that sex-related expectations and stereotypes for behaviors will moderate the
effects of active listening such that males and females react differently to the
stimulus messages or the combination of the stimulus messages and the sex of
the interviewer. Also, some people are iust less personable than others, so active
listening may not be enough to increase outcomes of the least personable and
may not appreciably increase the outcomes of the most personable. This is a
problem that needs to be addressed in future experimentation by including multiple
interviewers of both sexes so that variance attributable to interviewers can be better
controlled. A second limitation involves the context and content of the interactions.
In general, participants (i.e., undergraduates) seemed generally displeased with the
prospect of required comprehensive examinations for graduation. The effects of
message paraphrasing might depend on the topic of conversation such that receiv-
ing paraphrased responses to negative messages are simply less pleasant than para-
phrases of positive messages. Finally, the influence of paraphrases should be
^The standard deviation for the feeling underslood subscale (with a potential range of 8 to 40) of
the FUMS was 6.32 with a mean of 24,65; for the feelings of misunderstanding subscale (same potential
range) was 5,25 with a mean of 13.38,

contrasted with more possibilities, such as advice giving or even direct expressions
of doubt or disagreement, because these are certainly possible responses people
receive during conversations in everyday interaction.
CONCLUSION
Although active listening has become a ubiquitous element of the communication
skills training landscape, little, if any, research clearly demonstrates that people
perceive active listening to be superior to other types of listener responsiveness.
This study attempted to isolate one element of active listening, the verbal para-
phrase, to determine whether an association exists between three dimensions of
perceived listener skill and the reception of verbal paraphrases. This study offers
the first empirical evidence that message paraphrasing is associated with
increased liking for the listener. Contrary to expectations, however, message
paraphrases were not associated with increases in conversational satisfaction or
feeling understood. Future research should continue to examine the usefulness of
active listening in a variety of contexts to determine its utility as a social skill.
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