The Science and the So What? #5
Connecting in Conversation: Not All Paraphrasing is Equal
Marcy Crawford and Louis Wilde, Ph.D.
The Science
The active listening paradigm recommends that listeners paraphrase the thoughts and feelings of speakers. However, as of 2010, there was no significant research showing benefits from active listening to the speaker or the effects of different kinds of paraphrasing (Weger, et. al, 2010). A subsequent study undertook the latter in a “nontherapeutic, noncrisis management kind of everyday encounter” (Bodie, et. al, 2016). Although the study distinguishes three types of information in the context of the “stories” that people tell, they apply to the communication of any experience, even something as simple as a visual image or a thought. The three types of information are that related to events, the thing that happened, durative descriptive information, which provide background or context, and evaluative information, such as the expression of feelings. An adequate paraphrase is one that responds to all three types of information.
The results of the study showed that “when differences did emerge among the different forms of paraphrasing, event- and evaluative-based messages were rated as less helpful, sensitive, and supportive than durative descriptive and the adequate paraphrases.”
The So What?
In this study, the “story” told by the speaker concerned doing less well on a test at school than expected. In our opinion, while it might seem counterintuitive that paraphrasing that focused on recognition of a common ground between the speaker and listener was rated higher than paraphrasing focused on the facts of the event or the speaker’s feelings about the event, what is more important is that there were measurable differences in the effects of the three types of paraphrasing. Which type performs better is likely to depend on the evaluative criteria and the context of the story. Hopefully future research will look for general patterns that can be used to refine the use of paraphrasing in active listening applications.
Graham D. Bodie, Kaitlin E. Cannava & Andrea J. Vickery (2016) Supportive Communication and the Adequate Paraphrase, Communication Research Reports, 33:2, 166-172, DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2016.1154839
Harry Weger Jr., Gina R. Castle & Melissa C. Emmett (2010) Active Listening in Peer Interviews: The Influence of Message Paraphrasing on Perceptions of Listening Skill, The Intl. Journal of Listening, 24:1, 34-49, DOI: 10.1080/10904010903466311.