Attributional Consequences of Powerful and Powerless Speech Styles in a Crisis-Intervention Context

Abstract

This study examined effects of power of speech style and stylistic reciprocity in a particular interpersonal context. Speakers were an actor and an actress both of whom portrayed a 'client' and a 'counsellor' in a hypothetical 'crisis intervention' episode. The primary concern was with observers' evaluations of the relatively powerful counsellor and powerless client when they matched or mismatched powerful or powerless styles. Respondents were 135 undergraduates who listened to audiotapes of the counsellor-client interchange and subsequently evaluated both persons on a number of dimensions. The basic design was: power of style (high-low) X reciprocity of style (similar-dissimilar styles) X role (counsellor-client). Data were subjected to factor analyses and multivariate analyses of variance. Among others, results indicated that the high-power style produced higher ratings of Socio-Intellectual Status and Attractiveness, especially when this style was non-reciprocal. For female respondents ratings of Dynamism and Internality showed a similar pattern. The results suggest that speech accommodation processes are diminished in evaluative importance in the case of high-and low power speech styles.