Avoiding harm, benefits of interpersonal listening, and social equilibrium adjustment: An applied psychology approach to side effects of organizational interventions

Social-based learning and leadership (SBL) is an innovative pedagogical approach that centers on enhancing relationships within the educational system to address 21st-century challenges. At its core, SBL aims to help teachers transform into social architects who nurture positive social processes among pupils. Emphasizing prosocial education, SBL lays the foundation for cultivating pro-environmentalism and sustainable behavior by fostering a sense of care and responsibility toward others. SBL’s prosocial education program encompasses social and emotional skills, knowledge, and dispositions to empower pupils to actively engage in and contribute to a more democratic, reciprocal, just, and sustainable society. This approach underscores the importance of education in shaping students’ mindsets and life orientations. By nurturing a sense of interconnectedness and responsibility for the well-being of others, SBL provides a promising avenue to transform education by building more sustainable educational systems, thus contributing to creating a more sustainable future. A qualitative case study, which consisted of 18 in-depth interviews and nine observations, examined the impact of an SBL-based teacher training program at an elementary school from 2020 to 2023. The results point to changes in teachers’ perceptions of their roles as social architects and, more specifically, as facilitators of social, emotional, and cognitive processes. The teachers gained recognition as meaningful adults from their students and transitioned to hold integral positions as part of a supportive and connected school community, associating with colleagues and parents. This study thus showcases patterns of socio-organizational communication that can unfold in a school influenced by the SBL approach. SBL’s emphasis on positive social relationships and empowering teachers as facilitators of holistic student development thus further reinforces its potential to transform education for a sustainable and thriving future.

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).