Table 1. The operationalization and original items of the five components of feeling heard.
Component | Operationalization | Initial items | Item number | Items in the final scale |
---|---|---|---|---|
Voice | My experience of being able to express myself freely, that is, being able to say what I want to say. | …I could say what I really wanted to say | 2 | 2 |
…I could express my thoughts | 3 | |||
…I felt inhibited to say what I wanted to say | 4 | |||
Attention | My impression that the other focused their attention on what I said (my voice). | …the other was more concerned with him/herself than with what I said | 5 | 5, 6 |
…the other listened to what I said | 6 | |||
…the other paid attention to what I said | 7 | |||
Empathy | My perception that the other tried to take my perspective and emotionally understand me. | …the other tried to put him/herself in my shoes | 8 | 8, 9 |
…the other was insensitive to my thoughts and feelings | 9 | |||
…the other was empathetic | 10 | |||
Respect | My feeling that the other valued what I said (my voice) and me as a person. In other words, I am worth listening to. | …the other showed genuine interest in me | 11 | 13 |
…the other took me seriously | 12 | |||
…the other treated me with respect | 13 | |||
Common ground | My impression that we could take each other’s perspective and understand each other’s point of view | …we looked at things differently | 14 | 15 |
…we understood each other | 15 | |||
…we were on the same wavelength | 16 |
Note. Reverse coded items are italicized. We show the items in singular form (i.e., “the other), some of the items were rephrased to plural form (i.e., “the others”) when participants described a conversation with more than one other person.