Rapport Building and Self-Enhancement Process

¶ … Rapport Building and Self-Enhancement Process

THE EFFECTS of ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK on RAPPORT-BUILDING and SELF-ENHANCEMENT PROCESSES

In the study conducted by Allen, Montgomery, Tubman, Frazier, & Escovar, called the Effect of Assessment Feedback on Rapport Building and Self-Enhancement Processes, the goal of the experimental research study was to provide additional research regarding what is known about the impact of assessment feedback by identifying processes that may promote therapeutic outcomes. In the study, participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Participants in the experimental condition received feedback on specific assessment results, whereas participants in the control condition received no feedback about their assessment. This paper will discuss the authors hypotheses, research design, method, findings, limitations, and my personal thoughts on the research.

The authors experimentally tested two hypotheses in the study: Hypothesis 1 addressed the impact of feedback on rapport-related processes, and predicted that participants in the experimental (feedback) condition would report significantly better rapport with their examiner (a more positive relationship, less negative affect, and greater satisfaction with the assessment session) than participants in the control (no feedback) condition; Hypothesis 2 addressed the impact of feedback on self-enhancement processes, and predicted that participants in the experimental (feedback) condition would report a significantly greater sense of self-verification (feeling understood), higher trait and state self-esteem and self-regard, greater self-efficacy, and new self-understanding than participants in the control (no feedback) conditions intended for advice to health issues, and does not provide medical treatment or treat patients.

The research design chosen by the authors was a basic research design and methodology. They chose as participants college students from a Florida university located in southeast Florida. The university is located in an urban setting, contains a high commuter population where students do not really react with each other on a social basis. This type of participant population and setting was chosen due to the fact that the participants would have few opportunities to interact with each other outside of class. This would lower communications regarding the study that could affect the results. The participant sample consisted of 12 (15%) male and 71 (85%) female volunteers recruited from undergraduate psychology courses. This sample also mirrored prior research studies conducted on the topic.

The study was conducted as follows: at the beginning of the study, all participants completed a demographic information form and the assessment. The student were asked to complete a questionnaire, in which they had to rate questions on a scale of 1 to 5. This scale would indicate participants' positive feelings between themselves and the examiner. The wording of several items on the questionnaire was changed slightly, for example, "therapist" was changed to "examiner." A different subscale was used to test the hypothesis that assessment feedback accelerates rapport building. Another subscale asked questions regarding participants perceptions about themselves were reaffirmed and they felt proud, secure, or important after the testing experience. The final subscale was used to further understand how assessment feedback enhances a sense of self-enhancement, particularly a sense of self-discovery. The results supported the authors hypotheses that providing assessment feedback results could have some therapeutic value. I though the study was positive because very few studies have systematically attempted to identify the processes or mechanisms underlying the observed outcomes.