The effects of nonverbal immediacy and verbal person centeredness in the emotional support process

Susanne M. Jones, Laura Guerrero

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

126 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explores the combined influence of nonverbal immediacy and verbal person centeredness in the emotional support process. Three complementary models were tested in an experiment with 216 participants who disclosed an emotionally upsetting event to a confederate trained to display different levels of nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness. Participants subsequently completed a set of instruments measuring the perceived comforting quality of the confederate. Results suggested that nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness influence perceptions of what makes for good comforting. The data supported 2 of the advanced models but failed to provide support for a nonverbal primacy effect on perceived comforting quality.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)567-596
Number of pages30
JournalHuman Communication Research
Volume27
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2001

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Anthropology
  • Linguistics and Language

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