Interpersonal relating and voice hearing: to what extent does relating to the voice reflect social relating?

The experience of hearing voices (auditory hallucinations) has been construed as that of relating to an interpersonal 'other'. This preliminary study utilized Birtchnell's (1996, 2002) theory of relating to investigate the hypothesis that people who hear voices relate to the voices and to people within their social environment in similar ways. A correlational design was adopted and 27 people provided information about the characteristics of their voice-hearing experience, relating to the voice and relating socially. Significant correlations were found between relating to the voice and relating socially in terms of the 'dominant' and 'submissive' forms of power and the 'clinging' form of proximity: these associations were independent of beliefs about the voices and mood-linked appraisals. However, relating from a position of 'withdrawal' was found to be unique to the experience of voice hearing, and was most extreme when relating to voices that were perceived to have no identity. This study offers further evidence in support of the hypothesis that people who hear voices relate to them in ways that reflect more pervasive patterns of social relating. The clinical implications of these findings for assessment and intervention are discussed.