TY - JOUR
T1 - The Influence of Cognitive Complexity, Empathy, and Mindfulness on Person-Centered Message Evaluations
AU - Youngvorst, Lucas J.
AU - Jones, Susanne M
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Eastern Communication Association.
PY - 2017/10/20
Y1 - 2017/10/20
N2 - More than 30 years of research shows that highly person-centered (PC) supportive messages that validate and acknowledge the feelings of others are consistently viewed as more beneficial than less PC-based messages. There are, however, differences in how well people can distinguish high and low PC messages. We argue that the combined influence of motivational factors (i.e., empathy) and cognitive factors (i.e., cognitive complexity, mindfulness) significantly impacts how people process and evaluate support messages that vary in PC. Participants (n = 331) completed a survey, and structural equation modeling analyses revealed that both cognitive complexity and empathy predicted the extent to which people are able to differentiate more and less PC messages. Interestingly and in line with past research, mindfulness directly predicted empathy but not cognitive complexity.
AB - More than 30 years of research shows that highly person-centered (PC) supportive messages that validate and acknowledge the feelings of others are consistently viewed as more beneficial than less PC-based messages. There are, however, differences in how well people can distinguish high and low PC messages. We argue that the combined influence of motivational factors (i.e., empathy) and cognitive factors (i.e., cognitive complexity, mindfulness) significantly impacts how people process and evaluate support messages that vary in PC. Participants (n = 331) completed a survey, and structural equation modeling analyses revealed that both cognitive complexity and empathy predicted the extent to which people are able to differentiate more and less PC messages. Interestingly and in line with past research, mindfulness directly predicted empathy but not cognitive complexity.
KW - Cognitive Complexity
KW - Empathy
KW - Mindfulness
KW - Person-Centered Support
KW - Supportive Communication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016103906&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1080/01463373.2017.1301508
DO - 10.1080/01463373.2017.1301508
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85016103906
SN - 0146-3373
VL - 65
SP - 549
EP - 564
JO - Communication Quarterly
JF - Communication Quarterly
IS - 5
ER -