Can holding a stick improve listening at work? The effect of Listening Circles on employees’ emotions and cognitions

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).

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.