In-person beats online, but a phone call will do
University of Kansas
.webp)
These
are among the results of a new study co-authored by University of Kansas
professor of Communication Studies and friendship expert Jeffrey Hall.
"Quality
Conversation Can Increase Daily Well-Being" was published in the
journal Communication Research by Hall and co-authors Amanda
Holmstrom, Natalie Pennington, Evan Perrault and Daniel Totzkay. The study was
informed by and provides further support for Hall's Communicate Bond Belong
(CBB) theory of relationships. Hall is the director of KU's Relationships and
Technology Lab.
"This paper was an attempt to define quality communication in the context of relationships," Hall said."The types of communication we chose to study were ones shown in past research to make people feel more bonded through conversation."
There
were seven:
- ·
Catching up
- ·
Meaningful talk
- ·
Joking around
- ·
Showing care
- ·
Listening
- ·
Valuing others and
their opinions
- ·
Offering sincere
compliments
Over
900 study participants from five university campuses -- before, during and
after pandemic lockdowns -- were directed to engage in one of the seven
communication behaviors on a single day, and then reported back that night
about their feelings of stress, connection, anxiety, well-being, loneliness and
the quality of their day.
As
it turned out, Hall said, it didn't matter which of these quality conversations
someone had. The very act of intentionally reaching out to a friend in one of
these ways was what mattered most.
"One
of the take-home messages of this study is that there are many paths toward the
same goal," Hall said.
He
said the study was also designed to explore the impact of both the quality and
quantity of daily communications.
"There's
a lot of good research that says the number of interactions you have as well as
the quality of interactions are both associated with being a less lonely,
happier and more connected person," said Hall. This study found that once
is enough, but more is better. Participants who chose to have more quality
conversations had better days.
"This
means the more that you listened to your friends, the more that you showed
care, the more that you took time to value others' opinions, the better you
felt at the end of the day," he said.
"The
experimental design means that it's not just people who are already having
fulfilling lives who have higher-quality conversations," Hall said.
"This study suggests that anyone who makes time for high-quality
conversation can improve their well-being. We can change how we feel on any
given day through communication. Just once is all it takes."
The
study also brought in Hall's past research on different ways to connect in the
era of social and mobile media. The study found high quality face-to-face
communication was more closely associated with well-being than electronic or
social media contact.
"If
at least one of their quality conversations was face-to-face, that
mattered," Hall said.
The
paper also explains why quality communication makes people feel better. CBB
theory claims that people use conversations with friends to help get their need
to belong met.
"Across
these three studies, quality conversation mattered most for connection and
stress," Hall said. "This supports the idea that we use communication
to get our need to belong met, and, in doing so, it helps us manage our
stress."
What is exciting about this research, Hall said, is that it shows there are a host of good things that come along with just one good conversation with a friend. This drives home the point that making time for quality conversation makes our days better.
