Control and dispositional style among the hearing-impaired in communication situations.

Forty hearing-impaired subjects were exposed to three stressful communication situations in a laboratory setting. The communication patterns used and the extent to which the subjects succeeded in coping with the situations were studied. Measures, such as the life orientation test measuring dispositional style, a hearing questionnaire measuring the ability to cope with different hearing situations, degree of control and pure-tone audiometry were performed. Coping behaviour and expressed emotion during communication situations were also observed. The results showed that controllability together with dispositional style and aspects of expressed emotion played an important role in explaining the overall success rates of hearing-impaired individuals.