Empathic Listening as an Expression of Interpersonal Affection

In personal relationships, empathic listening may serve relational functions similar to affectionate communication. Consequently, theories of affectionate communication-such as affection exchange theory-can offer empirically testable predictions and theoretic explanations relevant to empathic listening behavior. This article considers the conceptual fit of empathic listening as a form of affectionate communication and identifies some empirical generalizations for the study of empathic listening.