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.
The effects of listening on speaker and listener while talking about character strengths: an open science school-wide collaboration
Tia Moin, Netta Weinstein, Guy Itzchakov, Amanda Branson, Beth Law, Lydia Yee, Emma Pape, Rebecca Y. M. Cheung, Anthony Haffey, Bhismadev Chakrabarti and Philip Beaman
Listening
Listening is understood to be a foundational element in
practices that rely on effective conversations, but there is
a gap in our understanding of what the effects of highquality
listening are on both the speaker and listener.
This registered report addressed this gap by training one
group of participants to listen well as speakers discuss
their character strengths, allowing us to isolate the role
relational listening plays in strengths-based conversations.
Participants were paired and randomly assigned to a highquality
listening (experimental) or moderate-quality listening
(comparison) condition manipulated through a validated
video-based training. High-quality listening predicted a
more constructive relational experience; specifically, positivity
resonance. Intrapersonal experiences (perceived authenticity
and state anxiety) were not affected. Those who engaged
in high-quality listening expressed a behavioural intention
to continue listening, but condition did not predict a
behavioural intention for speakers to continue applying
character strengths. This is the first evidence of positivity
resonance as a shared outcome between both a speaker and listener when the listener conveys high-quality (as opposed to ‘everyday’) listening. These early
findings merit further study with stronger listening manipulations to explore the potential role
of listening within interpersonal communication, and inform the applied psychological sciences
(counselling, psychotherapy, coaching, organizational, education).
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Understanding and Cultivating Effective Listening: A Dialectical Theory of the Tensions Between Intuition and Behavior
F. K. Tia Moin, Guy Itzchakov, and Netta Weinstein
Listening
Abstract
High-quality listening is a multifaceted social behavior, and theories and research concerning listening and how to train people to listen are mixed in terms of listening definitions and recommendations. The current study canvassed lay practitioners’ understanding of optimal listening qualities and training, drawing on a wide range of listening training materials (N = 207) sourced from the World Wide Web. Thematic analysis results were
critically examined to systematically position praxis against our current understanding of
listening theories. Findings are presented as a “dialectical listening theory,” which posits
that at its core, listeners’ behaviors often exist in direct tension with their mindset or intuition. Furthermore, we posit that this tension is amplified when individuals are faced with
conversations that conflict with their perspectives or values, making learning to listen
challenging in practice. We conclude that high-quality listening requires direct recognition and strategic management of these tensions throughout the listening process and
make recommendations based on listening and cognitive theories to inform best practice
in listening training.
Keywords: listening; listening training; active listening; dual-processing
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