A Possible Dark Side of Listening? Teachers Listening to Pupils Can Increase Burnout
Abstract
A growing body of the literature on interpersonal listening has revealed numerous positive outcomes in the workplace. For example, employees wholisten well are perceived as leaders, perform better at work, gain trust, and succeed in negotiations, among other benefits. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the potential negative consequences of listening in the workplace, especially when it is effortful and challenging. This study explored the potential relationship between teachers listening to their pupils and burnout. Conducted in 2024, this field study involved 106 middle and high school teachers from Israel. We used multiple regression analysis to control for well-known predictors of job burnout: motivation, job satisfaction, and competence. The results indicated that teachers’ perception of their listening quality significantly and positively predicted job burnout, even whenaccounting for these variables as well as seniority and school-type; 0.24 ≤ βs ≤ 0.36. This study highlights the potential negative consequences of workplace listening and contributes to the less explored aspect of listening in the literature with important implications for work-related outcomes.
How do people perceive listeners?
Guy Itzchakov, Geoffrey Haddock and Sarah Smith
Listening
Listening is essential in shaping social interactions,
relationships and communication. While listening research
has generated significant insights on how speakers benefit
from good listening, one fundamental question has been
largely overlooked: how do people perceive listeners?
This gap is crucial for understanding how perceptions of
listeners impact relational dynamics. In three studies (two
preregistered; total N = 1509), we assessed the attributes
and behaviours associated with good and bad listeners, and
whether the favourability of these attributes and behaviours
impact downstream consequences. In Study 1, participants
identified an acquaintance they judged as a good or bad
listener. Good listeners were rated higher in positive listening
attributes and behaviours, which mediated their perceived
warmth, competence and values. Study 2 replicated this using
a reverse correlation technique: one sample generated faces
of a good or bad listener, which were then evaluated by a
second, naïve sample. Consistent with Study 1, good listener
faces were rated higher in positive listening attributes and
behaviours, mediating perceptions of warmth, competence,
humility and values. Study 3 extended Study 2 by showing
that the effects were not due to a general positivity bias,
demonstrating the significant interpersonal consequences of
being perceived as a good or bad listener.
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The Power of Listening in Helping People Change
Guy Itzchakov, Avraham N. (Avi) Kluger
Listening
Giving performance feedback is one of the most common ways managers help their subordinates learn and improve. Yet, research revealed that feedback could actually hurt performance: More than 20 years ago, one of us (Kluger) analyzed 607 experiments on feedback effectiveness and found that feedback caused performance to decline in 38% of cases. This happened with both positive and negative feedback, mostly when the feedback threatened how people saw themselves.
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