listening

DeFleur, Kearney and Plax define listening as "an active effort of attention and perception on the part of a person toward whom a message has been directed.” (DeFleur, Kearney & Plax p 102). Effective listening has elements of action, context, adaptation, and forethought.

The action required in listening is to maximize attention and comprehension by overcoming barriers to those ends. Common physical barriers include contexts such as noise, physical comfort elements (temperature, etc.), disease or physical challenges. Psychological and sociological contexts also create barriers that require effort to overcome. Prejudice, cultural dissonance and semantic barriers all require active, intentional effort to overcome.

Context is a key element of effective listening in two significant areas. First the listener must actively consider the contexts in which the message is produced. Second, the listener and the message producer both need to consider the contexts in which the message is processed. For both the producer and the listener, these contexts can by physical, psychological, sociological, or cultural. They are contexts that can exist internally within the communicants or externally.

Adaptation is the continual modifications that communicants independently make to the way they think and behave toward each other during the communication process. This modification is part of the process of impression management, in which individuals seek to manage how they are viewed by others in order to gain certain social outcomes, maintain their self-esteem, or to develop an identity. (Leary & Kawolski, 1993)

Affinity among communicants is another element of effective listening, in that shared experiential contexts enable symbolic references to be interpreted with a higher degree of predictability, efficiency and consistency. ((DeFleur, Kearney & Plax p111)

Finally, effective listening happens most consistently when the listener demonstrates an intent to listen through planning. Planning often involves anticipation of the barriers to learning, as well as an intent to search for meaning in the messages rather than to expect it to become self-evident, An intentional suspension of pre-judgment about the message and the source enable effective listening.

Sophisticated comforting messages integrate effective listening skills. Delivering these messages require a high degree of involvement with the distressed person. This involvement can only come about through intentional action to gather information about events and feelings. These also require a suspension of prejudice, or what Burleson calls “evaluatively neutral” (Burleson 1994) When a listener is effective, they consider the emotional context of the message producer. Providing comfort requires an adaptive cycle of reciprocity and affinity which builds acceptance and empathy.

In spite of the integral role of effective communication in successful human relationships, it is often overlooked. This may be due to our self-centered tendency to be understood as an expression of our need for belonging. Workplace training in listening skills is helpful primarily to those who are motivated by a belief that developing these skills will have a direct (in monetary and/or status compensation) impact on their career. The potential negative impact on workplace training in listening is that “poor listening” becomes one more political weapon with which to attack co-workers. Unfortunately, the workplace competition is counterproductive to the development of effective interpersonal relationships.

Works Cited
Burleson, B. (1994) Comforting Messages: Features, functions and outcomes. In J. Daly and J. Wieman (Eds) Strategic Interpersonal Communication, pp. 135-182.

DeFleur, M., Kearney, P., & Plax, T. (1993) Listening as communication. In M. DeFleur, P. Kearney, & T. Plax. Fundamentals of Human Communication.

Leary, M., & Kowalksi, R. (1990) Impression Management: A literature Review. Psychological Bulletin, 197, pp. 34-47