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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2286-593X
Date of Graduation
5-15-2026
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
School of Strategic Leadership Studies
First Advisor
Benjamin S. Selznick
Second Advisor
Margaret F. Sloan
Third Advisor
Adam J. Vanhove
Abstract
Both listening and leadership literature has historically conflated the behavioral process of listening with the follower’s subjective experience of feeling heard. This quantitative study addresses this gap by exploring the extent to which a follower’s experience of feeling heard serves as an indirect linking mechanism between perceived leader listening styles (relational, analytical, task-oriented, and critical) and follower trust (reliance and disclosure). Utilizing a two-wave time-lagged design, survey data from 328 working adults were analyzed using structural equation modeling, integrating the Feeling Heard Scale, an adapted other-report Listening Styles Profile-Revised, and the Behavioural Trust Inventory.
The results demonstrated that the relationships between task-oriented, analytical, and critical listening styles and a follower's willingness to rely on their leader exhibited a fully mediated statistical pathway through feeling heard. Conversely, the model showed a partially mediated statistical pathway between relational listening and disclosure, as relational listening retained a significant direct effect. While partial discriminant validity between the constructs and the simultaneous measurement of feeling heard and trust preclude definitive causal claims, the model provides strong statistical support for feeling heard as a primary linking mechanism. This study implies that cognitive and task-focused listening behaviors are generally insufficient to independently predict trust; rather, trust is most strongly associated with leader behaviors that successfully culminate in the follower's subjective experience of feeling heard.
