Being and Becoming through Being Heard: Listener Effects on Stories and Selves

Abstract

In this article, we review our own and others’ work on how listeners shape the selves of speakers through narrative processes. We begin with an overview of narrative work on self that illustrates features of narratives that are conceptually and empirically related to selves, including self and identity judgments, story content, story structure, and story performance. We then consider how listeners can shape those aspects of narrative and self throughout the process of narration, from whether people choose to narrate an experience to how they narrate the event. We frame this review in terms of listeners’ attentiveness, agreement, scaffolding, and expertise, since these dimensions are all relevant to the way that listeners influence storytelling. Our own and others’ work in this area provide substantial evidence for the importance of listeners, as well as specificity about the processes by which listeners affect speakers’ selves through narration. Finally, we conclude by considering future directions that will be important for clarifying the role of listeners and understanding more about the ways particular listeners exert their influence within a broader social and cultural context.