Effects of verbal interaction conditions on self-concept discrimination and anxiety.

Abstract

Eighty subjects were randomly assigned equally by sex to self-positive or self-negative discussion topic groups in which they either received or did not receive verbal comment from the interviewer. While no differences appeared according to subject sex, a silent interviewer produced less discrimination of the self as a concept, and depending upon the positive or negative direction of subject verbalization, interviewer nonparticipation resulted in less or greater anxiety about the self. The interview behavior of a counselor interacts with discussion content in specific and potent ways. The dyadic interaction may affect both the definitional (denotative) and feeling (connotative-affective) aspects of concept meaning.