Inattentive Listening Undermines Self‐Verification in Personal Storytelling

Abstract

Two studies explore the narrative construction of self-perceptions in conversational storytelling among pairs of same-sex friends. Specifically, the studies examined how listener behavior can support or undermine attempts to self-verify in personal storytelling. In two studies (n=100 dyads), speakers told attentive, distracted, or disagreeable (Study 1 only) friends about a recent experience. Distracted, but not disagreeable, friends tended to undermine participants' attempts to verify their self-perception of being interested in an activity (Study 1) or their self-perception that an event was typical for them (Study 2). These results support the notion that friends can be an important source of influence on self-perceptions and, perhaps surprisingly, suggest that responsiveness from friends, rather than agreement per se, may be crucial for supporting self-verification processes.

Sobering stories: Narratives of self-redemption predict behavioral change and improved health among recovering alcoholics.

“…Rather, these stories are "created within a specific situation, by particular individuals, for particular audiences, and to fulfill particular goals" (McLean, Pasupathi, & Pals, 2007, p. 262). The manner in which the story is told and received carries important implications for subsequent iterations and, ultimately, its internalization (Pasupathi & Rich, 2005). Although smallscale qualitative investigations have speculated about the processes that promote the construction and maintenance of redemptive stories (e.g., Denzin, 2009;O'Reilly, 1997), additional quantitative studies are needed to test the proposals put forth by Denzin (2009) and others.…”

Silence and the shaping of memory: How distracted listeners affect speakers' subsequent recall of a computer game experience

“…In everyday life, people tell one another about their experiences and this activity has implications for their subsequent memory and understanding of those events (Dickinson & Givon, 1995;Dudukovic, Marsh, & Tversky, 2004;McLean, 2005;Pasupathi, 2001Pasupathi, , 2007Pasupathi & Rich, 2005;Pasupathi, Stallworth, & Murdoch, 1998;Rimé, Finkenauer, Luminet, Zech, & Phillipot, 1998;Thoman, Sansone, & Pasupathi, 2007;Tversky & Marsh, 2000). The focus of much of this work has been on the goals people have when talking about their experiences (Dudukovic et al, 2004;McLean, 2005;Pasupathi, 2007;Tversky & Marsh, 2000), and on the way that listeners and collaborators in the remembering process affect the way events are retold and subsequently interpreted and recalled (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994;Dickinson & Givon, 1995;Hirst, Manier, & Apetroaia, 1997;Pasupathi & Hoyt, in press;Pasupathi & Rich, 2005;Pasupathi et al, 1998;Thoman et al, 2007;Weldon & Bellinger, 1997).…”

Developing Moral Agency through Narrative

“…However, caution is warranted here for two reasons. First, disagreement can also backfire, reinforcing existing self-views [e.g., Pasupathi & Rich, 2005], and disagreement can certainly create sufficient threat to promote self-defensiveness. Second, as we noted earlier, self-protective narration is not uniformly to be avoided -there is value in protecting some self-regard while acknowledging wrong doing.…”