Training Versus Responsiveness in Supportive Interactions Employing Confederates: A Dynamic Dyadic Systems Approach

ABSTRACT The cognitive-emotional theory of esteem support messages (CETESM) posits that esteem support can enhance recipients’ state self-esteem after an acute threat. To test the CETESM and other supportive communication theories, researchers have conducted experiments employing trained confederates who provide supportive messages of varying quality to naïve disclosers. Manipulation checks of confederate fidelity to conditions are typically conducted at the level of the entire conversation. However, conversation-level checks fail to provide critical information about what happens in interactants’ turns at talk. The present report reanalyzes data from a study framed by the CETESM in which confederates were trained to enact four esteem support message styles when interacting with a naïve discloser. Engaging in turn-based coding and employing analytical techniques such as configural frequency analysis (CFA), we test hypotheses and research questions regarding: (1) how confederate turns correspond to their assigned condition; (2) the nature of discloser turns in esteem support interactions with confederates; (3) the nature of discloser-to-confederate turn transitions; and (4) discloser-to-confederate turn transitions associated with key outcomes for disclosers. Results indicate that while many confederate turns were consistent with their assigned condition, interesting deviations occurred in response to discloser turns, some of which were linked to outcomes.