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6: Listening

  • Page ID
    251099
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    Learning Objectives

    After reading this chapter you should be able to:

    • Describe the stages of the listening process
    • Discuss the four main types of listening
    • Compare and contrast the four main listening styles

    In our sender-oriented society, listening is often overlooked as an important part of the communication process. Yet research shows that adults spend about 45% of their time listening, which is more than any other communicative activity. In some contexts, we spend even more time listening than that. On average, workers spend 55% of their workday listening, and managers spend about 63% of their day listening, according to Owen Hargie in his book Skilled Interpersonal Interaction: Research, Theory, and Practice.

    Listening is a primary means through which we learn new information, which can help us meet instrumental needs as we learn things that help us complete certain tasks at work or school and get things done in general. The act of listening to our relational partners provides support, which is an important part of relational maintenance and helps us meet our relational needs. Listening to what others say about us helps us develop an accurate self-concept, which can help us more strategically communicate for identity needs in order to project to others our desired self. Overall, improving our listening skills can help us be better students, better relational partners, and more successful professionals. Stronger listening skills can make a person wiser about the world that surrounds them.

    • 6.1: Listening Process
      This page outlines the multifaceted process of listening, which includes stages like receiving, interpreting, and responding to messages. It emphasizes the importance of effective listening, influenced by external and internal noise, and highlights the role of recall in assessing listening skills. Additionally, it underscores the significance of responding in communication, discussing verbal and nonverbal feedback as indicators of active listening.
    • 6.2: Importance of Listening
      This page emphasizes the critical importance of listening in communication across various contexts. It discusses different listening types—discriminative, informational, critical, empathetic, people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented, and time-oriented—each with distinct characteristics and implications. Effective listening skills enhance academic achievement, career growth, and personal relationships, with empathetic listening being particularly vital during conflicts.
    • 6.3: Barriers to Effective Listening
      This page addresses barriers to effective listening, which arise from environmental factors, physiological and psychological noise, and personal biases. It details various forms of poor listening, such as unintentional interruptions, distorted listening, eavesdropping, aggressive listening, narcissistic listening, and pseudo-listening, all of which detract from effective communication and relationships.
    • 6.4: Improving Listening Competence
      This page discusses improving listening skills through active listening and methods for each stage of the listening process: receiving, interpreting, recalling, evaluating, and responding. It emphasizes creating listenable messages and providing effective feedback that is specific, descriptive, positive, constructive, and realistic.


    This page titled 6: Listening is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Misc (LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.