Types of listening in psychology, techniques, styles of active and passive

The concept of listening in communication psychology

To successfully interact with society, it is necessary to develop not only the speech apparatus, but also the ability to correctly listen to a person. Listening and speaking are fundamental skills that enable you to develop verbal communication.

The essence of the technique is to have the most positive and responsive attitude towards the interlocutor, which increases the chance of universal understanding. Interest is the most important technique for developing active listening, knowledge of which will allow you to gain trust from a person and reveal more information about him.

In turn, listening is a procedure of concentrated understanding and perception of auditory and visual stimuli, as well as the unconscious attribution of symbolism to the information heard.

Active listening is characterized by the skills:

• Understanding. A detailed decoding of information coming from outside, which occurs by assigning the most appropriate meaning, in other words, comprehension in those categories that are understandable to a person.
• Concentration. The process of high concentration and interpersonal perception of multiple symbolic definitions coming from the senses. Characterized by the subsequent selection of the most important images due to a specific phenomenon.
• Critical listening or analysis . Is the process of determining how true the information said is.
• Response. Characterized by an appropriate response to what is heard, including verbal and nonverbal communication. Gives you the opportunity to evaluate information about your own personality - behavior, character, level of empathy, etc.

Active listening depends on parameters such as personality type, intellectual development, age, culture or gender of the person. Also, numerous professions are associated with the ability to listen, including: salespeople, psychologists, teachers, consultants and others.

In the role of business communication, listening skills are especially important, therefore, during training, special techniques are often used that develop the ability to correctly and effectively perceive information.

Using such techniques, the ability to quickly support an interlocutor develops, which increases the importance of the individual.

When communicating with children, listening allows you to better understand their fears and prejudices, which, if approached incorrectly, can be harmful. Seeing that the parent is capable of understanding, there is a high chance that the child will learn to solve his own problems.

Research in psychology indicates that listening skills are developed differently among people. Thus, it has been experimentally proven that on average, 47-50% of the time is spent on listening, 16-30% on speaking, and 15-18% on analyzing information.

Interestingly, most people rate listening skills at 80-85%, but numerous studies indicate high effectiveness of understanding data only in 20-25% of cases. That is, ¾ of the information is lost.

Concept of psychological feedback

Feedback Mechanism

There are various ways and forms through which a person recognizes himself, for example, this occurs as a result of comparing himself with other people, as a result of social interaction, or through introspection.

In the process of interpersonal communication, this problem is solved using a special mechanism - the feedback mechanism.

Feedback – information about how the recipient perceives the Communicator, how he evaluates his behavior and words

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It should be noted that information in communication is not simply transmitted from one partner to another (the person transmitting information is usually called a communicator, and the person receiving this information is called a recipient), but is exchanged.

Accordingly, the main task of information exchange in communication is not a simple translation of information in a forward or reverse direction, but the development of a common meaning, a common point of view and agreement regarding a particular situation or communication problem.

The meaning of the feedback mechanism is that in interpersonal communication the process of information exchange is doubled, and in addition to the substantive aspects, the information coming from the recipient to the communicator contains information about how the recipient perceives and evaluates the behavior of the communicator.

Thus, feedback is information containing the recipient’s reaction to the behavior of the communicator. In other words, interpersonal feedback refers to the intentional, verbal communication to another person of how their behavior or the consequences of that behavior are perceived and experienced.

The purpose of receiving feedback is to correct one’s own behavior in the communication process.

Feedback includes conscious control of communicative actions, observation of the partner and assessment of his reaction, and subsequent changes in one’s own behavior in accordance with this. The feedback mechanism presupposes the ability to correlate one’s reactions with the behavior of a partner, with assessments of one’s own actions, and draw a conclusion about what caused a certain reaction of the interlocutor to the words spoken.

Feedback also includes corrections that the communicating person makes to his own behavior, depending on how he perceives and evaluates the actions of his partner.

The purpose of providing feedback is to help the communication partner understand how his actions are perceived and what feelings they evoke in other people.

Types of feedback

Feedback can be transmitted in various ways. First of all, they talk about direct and indirect feedback.

In case of direct feedback

information coming from the recipient contains a reaction to the behavior of the speaker in an open and unambiguous form.

These can be open statements like “I don’t like what you’re saying,” “I have a hard time understanding what you’re talking about now,” etc., as well as gestures and various manifestations of feelings of annoyance, irritation, joy, and others. Such feedback ensures adequate understanding by the communicator and creates conditions for effective communication.

Indirect Feedback

- This is a veiled form of transmitting psychological information to a partner.

To do this, various rhetorical questions, ridicule, ironic remarks, and emotional reactions unexpected for the partner are often used. In this case, the communicator himself must guess what exactly the communication partner wanted to provide to him, what his reaction actually is and his attitude towards the communicator. Naturally, guesses do not always turn out to be correct, which greatly complicates the exchange of information and the entire communication process.

Feedback Levels

Feedback can be provided at various levels:

1. cognitive – “I see, hear, touch”: participants are included in the communication process (“In your story the pauses have now become shorter”, “You are now saying again and again that...”, “Talking about your husband, you began to touch your wedding band.” ring...", etc.);

2. emotional - “I feel”: we say what exactly we feel in connection with what we see (“I have a doubt that this is a resolved issue for you...”), while it is important not to tell the person your interpretation;

the level of one’s own ideas, hypotheses – “I react.”

Feedback functions

In 1950, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram proposed a model illustrating the processes of self-knowledge and self-disclosure of a person, which was called the “Joe-Harry Window” (it should be noted that there are other variations of the name in the literature, for example, the Johari Window, the Joe-Harry Window , Joghari Window).

Thus, each person has certain individual psychological characteristics, personal qualities and properties, the existence of which he may or may not know (or may not be fully aware of).

The people around him, his communication partners, in turn, may or may not be aware of his personal qualities.

Thus, if we take “knowledge/ignorance” (presence/absence of information) of the personal characteristics of the person himself and his communication and interaction partners as the reporting point, we can obtain four areas of intersection of these positions.

Rice. 2. Joe Harry Window

1. Open area

(or, using other terminology, an open window, or “Arena”) contains behavior, feelings and motives that are known to both the person himself and those around him. This is the sphere of ordinary everyday communication. The open window includes information that a person knows about himself and presents it to others - for example, his name, some of his habits and qualities.

Blind area

(blind window, “Blind spot”) consists of information that is not known to a person, but is known to others. This includes how a person is perceived by communication partners from the outside, while he himself has not the slightest idea about it.

Often, this is quite negative information, something that a person himself does not notice, and others consider it inappropriate to talk about it (for example, a repulsive behavior, increased aggressiveness, intrusiveness and other behavioral characteristics).

Hidden area (closed window, Visibility)

contains something that a person is aware of, but others do not know. This includes information that a person would like to keep secret from others (the area of ​​unresolved problems, unseemly actions, intimate moments, etc.).

4. Unknown area (unknown window, "Unknown")

- this is what is beyond the consciousness of both the individual himself and those around him, this is the sphere of the unconscious.

The size of each window can change in the process and result of communication, in particular, during an open dialogue, during a doctor’s consultation, psychological counseling and psychotherapy.

Based on the proposed model, we can imagine the following interaction patterns between communication partners, leading to changes in window sizes (Fig. 3).

For example, high-quality, effective dialogue communication leads to the expansion of the open window by reducing the remaining windows.

In psychotherapy, work occurs on changing the blind and unknown windows, transferring information from these windows to an open or closed window.

In simple communication, communication partners must be able to control the size of these windows by engaging in various role-playing games or presenting themselves in different contexts.

Rice. 3. Scheme of interactions between communication partners

Thus, the following main functions of interpersonal feedback can be distinguished:

• feedback acts as a regulator of behavior: a) encourages change; b) indicates the type of change required; c) helps to evaluate attempts towards achieving this change;
• feedback acts as a regulator of interpersonal relationships;
• feedback acts as a source of self-knowledge;
• Feedback in interpersonal communication ensures active communication, eliminates frustration, improves mutual understanding, and reduces tension among communication partners.

Conditions for effective feedback (how to give feedback)

Polish psychologist E. Melibrud cites a number of conditions for effective feedback.

1. In your comments, you must try to touch, first of all, on the characteristics of the partner’s behavior, and not on the personality of the partner, try to talk about his specific actions. For example, the following statement by a doctor would be incorrect: “You are such an irresponsible patient, you never follow my recommendations.” It would be more effective to say: “Failure to follow the doctor’s recommendations can lead to consequences such as...”.

Feedback should be constructed in a descriptive manner, and not in the form of evaluations, that is, be non-evaluative and descriptive in nature. This means talking more about your observations rather than your conclusions (always remember that the conclusions you draw may not be true). It is possible that thanks to the observations expressed, the partner will come to deeper and more correct conclusions.

Feedback is formulated in terms of one’s own feelings and attitudes, and “I-statements” are used (for example, not “You upset me!”, but “I’m upset”). Also, when describing the behavior of another person, you should try not to use the categories “you always...”, “you never...”.

Feedback should be based on the “here and now” principle; in other words, it should not be delayed. It is necessary to try to focus your attention on the specific actions of your partner in situations that took place quite recently, and not on stories of the distant past.

When providing your partner with feedback, you must try to avoid advice that is, in essence, a softened form of a negatively colored judgment; it is better to express your thoughts, as if sharing thoughts and information with your partner.

6. When providing feedback to a person, you should try to emphasize what can be valuable for him, and not what can bring satisfaction to you personally.

At the same time, you should try not to abuse the expression of feelings, not resort to emotional release, and try not to manipulate others.

7. Feedback, like any form of help, should be offered rather than forced.

8. Feedback must contain such information and in such quantity that the partner is able to use it.

Care must be taken to ensure that the moment for providing feedback is appropriate... It is important to choose the right time, place and situation for this. Often, in response to feedback, the partner reacts with deep emotional experiences. Therefore, you need to be very tactful and intelligently assess the capabilities of your interlocutor.

10. Humanistic principle of feedback.

We must remember that giving and receiving feedback requires some courage, understanding, and respect for yourself and others.

Types of listening, features and examples

Types of listening in psychology are 5 main varieties, which differ from each other based on the quality of analysis, perception and timely response to the information heard.

The use of a certain type helps to improve the quality of information perception, which is why it is often used during business meetings.

Male and female active listening

Based on gender characteristics, there is both male and female listening. In the first case, the information is perceived most carefully, including comprehensive observation and analysis of the data obtained, active discussion of the subject of discussion, reflection and the presence of clarifying questions.

Male listening is often used during business meetings, conferences or negotiations. Feminine listening differs from male listening in increased emotionality and openness.

In this case, empathy is used, which allows you to become closer to the interlocutor, causing the necessary trust, as well as sympathy for the problems described. Such communication is dominated by an emphasis on feelings and the emotional component, rather than the amount of information expressed.

Directed or critical listening

With this type of listening, the participant in the conversation first makes a critical analysis of what he heard, starting in advance from the intention of verifying the information received. In other words, an analysis of the veracity of what was said occurs, after which the individual understands whether he agrees with another opinion or not.

Critical analysis is characterized by the quality and value judgments about the correctness of what the interlocutor said, that is, statements that can be supported by facts.

When listening critically, the following processes usually occur:

• clarification. Are there significant facts that support the wording heard, are they truly relevant;
• assessment. A relationship is drawn between logical conclusions and the evidence base;
• definition. Is there other information that could reduce the quality of the conclusion?

Such listening is used when an important decision needs to be made, unfamiliar experience is discussed, or certain points of view are expressed in discussions, meetings or work meetings.

Critical listening is ineffective in situations where new data is discussed or the learning process takes place (lectures, reports, lessons). The psychological attitude of rejecting the information received does not allow one to listen to it, which is why valuable data may go unnoticed.

Empathic Listening

Types of listening in psychology associated with empathy represent an individual's ability to respond emotionally to the experiences of other people. With this type, the participant in the conversation places the main emphasis on “reading” the feelings of the interlocutor, giving little importance to the words spoken.

Types of listening in psychology related to empathy:

• Empathic response . Characterized by the presence of observation of another person and the subsequent experience of various emotional reactions that are similar to expected or actual expressions.
• Sympathetic response . Represents a feeling of participation, care, or compassion that is directed toward another individual in the context of a situation or problem. It differs in that the opponent is not inclined to direct empathy. Correct sympathetic understanding is characterized by the development of emotional signs such as anxiety, pity or grief.
• Taking a different point of view . Refers to putting oneself in another person's shoes, better perceiving their point of view, problem or any other thoughts.

Empathic listening is generally not characterized by the presence of advice or value judgment of the interlocutor. At the same time, the person does not seek to moralize or criticize the information received.

When developing communication skills, this type of listening can be effective in the context of obtaining positive emotions from the interlocutor - joy, self-confidence, hope for a better outcome, pleasure, etc.

It may also be ineffective when, during a conversation, the subject feels negative emotions - fear, grief, sadness or disappointment.

Conscious observation of a person will allow you to focus on such important manifestations as verbal and nonverbal communication, through which you can learn more about the emotional component of the problem.

Non-reflective listening

Types of listening in psychology associated with the ability to minimally interfere with the information being expressed, with a high focus on the problem, are called non-reflective.

The ability to silently and carefully perceive information, without interfering with the context with one’s own remarks or remarks, greatly facilitates the speaker’s process of self-reflection and expression.

Types of listening in psychology, example - non-reflective listening.

Non-reflective listening when communicating with a person who has speech impediments gives him the opportunity to focus on the subject of the conversation and speak better. This type of listening is also effective with interlocutors who experience negative emotions, feel the intensity of passions, or are too preoccupied with a problem.

When delving into the process unreflectively, you should not use negative reactions, and also ask additional questions and ask the person to calm down and say that everything will get better someday.

This can cause frustration or indignation, because in an affective state, the interlocutor is not capable of adequately perceiving information.

Reflective Listening

Reflective or active perception of information is a type of listening in which the reflection of the information received in the conversation comes first. This type presupposes an analysis of the data received during the conversation, as well as a quick response to it using leading questions.

This type of listening, according to many psychologists, is the most effective and constructive, because when it is used, the so-called organization of interaction develops.

This affects the two-way understanding of opponents - both speak more meaningfully, information is checked and clarified.

The most well-known techniques that distinguish reflective listening from others are frequent clarifications about the correct understanding of the information being expressed, which occurs through leading questions: “Do I understand what correctly?”, “Otherwise, did you want to say...”, “Maybe you meant in sight?

Using the techniques described above allows you to provide two interlocutors with adequate communication, which eliminates various pressures or barriers between them. This also allows the subject to form the idea that the individual in front of him is equal to him.

The use of reflective listening skills will significantly help someone who has a “victim” position, which will allow them to knock an authoritative interlocutor out of a leadership position, thereby elevating the conversation to average and equal communication.

Common Listening Mistakes

In business and casual communications, there are several common listening errors that need to be avoided. Among them are:

• Interrupting a communication partner during a conversation (many people interrupt each other unconsciously, managers often interrupt their subordinates, and men often interrupt women);
• Hasty conclusions that force the dialogue partner to take a defensive position (this immediately creates barriers to constructive dialogue);
• Hasty objections that arise in case of disagreement with the statements of the speaker. Often a person does not listen, but formulates an objection in his thoughts, waiting for his turn to speak. Next, he gets carried away with justifying his point of view, not noticing that his partner was trying to say the same thing;
• Unsolicited advice, which is often given by those who are not able to provide real help (here it is important to determine the desire of the interlocutor: joint reflection or receiving specific help).

Active Listening Technique

The main techniques of active listening are the ability to capture the essence of what is being said, and, if possible and willing, to help the interlocutor. Full mastery of the techniques is achieved through constant practice.

The most popular techniques:

• Repetition. Clarifying questions and repeating what the interlocutor said. Concentration on the main points of the dialogue.
• Encouragement. Increased interest, expressed in the desire to listen to a person. Particularly important are qualities such as goodwill, responsiveness, and lack of value judgment.
• Reflection. Understanding the emotional component of a person. The ability to copy gestures and facial expressions of the interlocutor, which allows you to increase mutual understanding and express interest.
• Generalization. Summarizing what your opponent said. It is a concentration of everything said based on the main, main idea. A compromise is possible.

Also in practice, there are methods that allow you to transform passive listening into active listening.

Thus, active or reflective listening is a technique that is characterized by two main components: the primary clarification of the true meaning of the conversation and the manifestation of reflexes that will confirm the value of the conversation.

With a feeling of self-importance and genuine interest, the opponent begins to experience greater interest in the conversation, becoming more open to conversation. All this develops friendly communication, trust and creates the basis for better relationships.

Empathy is the most powerful enhancer of all active listening techniques, which allows you to quickly establish good contact and promote openness in a person. Before performing the techniques, you should work on the empathic component.

Public speaking

Everything is important: content, intonation, manner of presentation, gestures and facial expressions. It should be remembered that almost half of the information is transmitted through intonation. The same words, in other words, can lead to opposite results. Speak loudly, clearly, expressively and simply enough to ensure intelligibility, not monotonously, but not in a soporific “wave” (higher, lower). The emotionality of the speech must correspond to the content and take into account the situation. There is no need to strive for volume at the expense of the vocal cords, but learn to use resonators: the mouth, nasopharynx, sinuses, and chest.

Maximum effectiveness is achieved through the harmony of thought and word, providing a logical perspective of speech and clarity combined with simplicity of presentation. The drier and more abstract the statement, the less emotional it is, the weaker the perception of speech. But emotionality is not limited to external manifestations; internal strength and conviction are important, which can only be supported by the internal need to speak, caused by business needs. Lectures and moralizing are unacceptable, but the audience should not be flattered. Viewers see more than they hear and trust their eyes more than their ears.

The eyes are quicker to perceive the discrepancy between the speaker's posture and what he is saying. Listeners get their first impression of a speaker through visual perception - his sincerity, friendliness and liveliness. A repeated, small shrug or an expressive hand movement says more than words. The naturalness of the posture helps listeners pay more attention to what the speaker is saying, and not to what he looks like. The simple rule is to not only have something to say, but to be ready to say it. Sincerity of speech intention will help you to be physically expressive, avoid slouching, stiff posture or mannered movements. By monitoring the behavior of listeners, you can determine what corrections, additions and changes are needed, what should be removed from the text of your speech.

You can use this information to visually interact with your audience through hands-on experience. Naturalness and ease of speech, reflection and choice, the birth of the word “in front of the audience” are very important. Isn't this an obstacle to the kind of thorough preparation discussed above? The answer is always clear: the more thoroughly the speaker prepares for the speech, the more vivid and spontaneous the act of creating speech will be. You should not memorize the text of the speech. This usually results in an unnatural, rough birth. The speaker tends to rush and pronounce words without thinking about their meaning. In addition, the method of memorizing text is bad because it does not allow you to make the changes necessary to adapt the speech to the reaction of the audience.

The method of reading speeches is as inflexible as the method of memorizing and also creates a barrier between the speaker and the audience. Since the speaker's eyes must be fixed on the notes, he cannot look at the audience, but only glances at them briefly. Unless he/she has specialized sight reading skills, he/she cannot use the vocal flexibility and richness of intonation characteristic of live speech. In some specific situations, however, notes cannot be avoided, since careful choice of words is required. Sight reading, which is ineffective and informal, should be avoided whenever possible. Most good speakers use the improvisation method. The speech is carefully planned, the words are never memorized.

Interference with active listening

During a dialogue, a person may encounter certain difficulties that will interfere with the correct perception and accurate visualization of the information received. Such interference arises from one’s own experiences or thoughts.

Various distortions during a conversation can interfere with the perception of the interlocutor, reducing concentration on the subject of the dialogue. The most popular difficulties include a drowsy or dreamy state. Also, with high criticality, the opponent may not perceive information from another person.

There are some errors that indirectly affect listening:

• Inventing arguments or answers, which increases the chances of losing the main point of the dialogue.
• Instructions, moralization, critical arguments pushing the opponent to stop talking.
• Ridiculous phrases that copy a person.
• Interrupting or finishing a phrase for an opponent without allowing a full thought to be formed.
• Reducing the conversation to an insignificant polemic.
• Focusing on oneself, which is characterized by translating what is said into one’s own experience.
• Frequent distraction from the purpose of the conversation by personal experiences or irritants.

External irritants include the inability to correctly convey information - slurred or incoherent speech, lack of correct tempo and volume. Also, the quality of perception can be affected by strangers and loud noise - a playing telephone, transport, repair work.

Active Listening Questions

The types of listening, as well as their effectiveness, depend on whether the subject is distracted. In order to correctly understand the interlocutor and focus on the essence of what is being said, it is necessary to ask leading questions.

In psychology, such techniques are often used to gain a large audience or manipulate opinions. Questions should be as open-ended as possible, which will allow you to obtain as much information as possible.

Examples are statements:

• "how exactly?";
• "Why?";
• "How many?";
• "For what?";
• “What should I do for this?”

Depending on the context, the interrogative construction can be modified by using new words. Their large number in a conversation is directly proportional to the amount of information received.

Because closed questions require a short answer “yes” or “no,” you should not overuse them. Psychologically, they develop an interrogative atmosphere. Such words are best used at the very end of the dialogue in order to clarify the internal state of the opponent.

Alternative questions are made up of two components - open and closed varieties. In this case, the opponent must subconsciously choose between them, which may also indicate his disposition to talk.

you need to become aware of your “I-hearings.”

For example, if you hear from a friend: “You know, my husband is cheating on me...” - and suddenly you feel a surge of indignation and empathy for the speaker, because you yourself have experienced the same thing in your family life.

There will be no empathic listening here if you fail to become aware of your “I-listening” at the moment, if you are not aware of your own uncontrollable emotions. And then there will be room in your soul for the feelings of another person. The state of empathic listening is a state of mind without filters.

Perhaps this amazing emotional state, when the soul is open, is the most natural state of a person with high self-worth. He simultaneously “resonates” with the soul of his partner and continues to remain himself.

Tips for a bad listener

In the case when it is necessary to get rid of the interlocutor, a number of techniques are drawn up, based on the method of active listening, with the help of which you can cause an open reluctance in the opponent to continue the dialogue.

To do this you should:

• sharply and rudely criticize your opponent, pointing out his inaccuracies and mistakes;
• interrupt and go on personal topics;
• use dismissive postures and facial expressions;
• constantly answer a question with a question;
• remain silent or show no emotional response;
• being distracted by telephone conversations or showing interest in other activities.

Despite the effectiveness of the technique, it should not be used often, since all people require sympathy. It is always better to kindly express your own reluctance to conduct further conversation.

Tips for being a good listener

Fundamental active listening techniques allow you to develop positive communication between two interlocutors, through which a person feels attentive to the words and experiences expressed.

Also, understanding the techniques and their correct use will create the necessary sense of self-importance, which will increase the chances of success in a particular matter.

Basic recommendations:

• maintain eye contact with the interlocutor;

• produce feedback using questions and facial expressions;
• after asking a question, wait for an answer without interrupting or asking additional questions;
• do not refute what you hear by delving into the subject of the dialogue;
• do not pay attention to aggressive actions on the part of the interlocutor, try to eliminate them with the help of calmness and patience.

After the interlocutor has completed the story, it is recommended to remain silent for several minutes, which will allow you to better analyze what you heard and determine the emotional component of the dialogue. Such a break also helps the speaker to take a break or remember important aspects of the topic of conversation.

Using types of listening is a sure way to reach a person's inner world, especially when the dialogue is not limited to verbal experiences. In the practice of psychology, such techniques allow one to achieve the desired disposition and increase trust on the part of the interlocutor.