The effects of nonverbal immediacy and verbal person centeredness in the emotional support process

This study explores the combined influence of nonverbal immediacy and verba l person centeredness in the emotional support process, Three complementary models were tested in an experiment with 216 participants who disclosed an emotionally upsetting event to a confederate trained to display different levels of nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness. Participants subsequ ently completed a set of instruments measuring the perceived comforting qua lity of the confederate. Results suggested that nonverbal immediacy and per son centeredness influence perceptions of what makes for good comforting. T he data supported 2 of the advanced models but failed to provide support fo r a nonverbal primacy effect on perceived comforting quality.