Listening

Sender-Orientation and Listening

• In a sender-oriented society, listening is often overlooked as an important part of the communication process.

• Listening constitutes a large portion of communicative activity for adults; research reports about 0.45 of their time spent listening, i.e., 45%.

• In some contexts, listening time can be even higher; within work settings, workers spend about 0.55 of their workday listening, and managers spend about 0.63 of their day listening. These figures are drawn from Hargie (2011).

Key Statistics on Time Spent Listening

• Adults spend about $p_{adult} = 0.45$ of their time listening (i.e., 45%).

• Workers spend about $p_{worker} = 0.55$ of their workday listening.

• Managers spend about $p_{manager} = 0.63$ of their day listening.

• The difference between managers and workers is $\Delta = p<em>{manager} - p</em>{worker} = 0.63 - 0.55 = 0.08$, which equals $8\%$ points.

Listening as a Primary Means of Learning

• Listening is a primary means through which we learn new information.

• Learning via listening helps meet instrumental needs by enabling us to complete tasks at work or school and to get things done in general.

Listening for Relational Maintenance and Relational Needs

• Listening to our relational partners provides support, which is a key component of relational maintenance.

• This listening helps meet relational needs by sustaining healthy relationships.

Listening and Identity Needs: Self-Concept

• Listening to what others say about us helps us develop an accurate self-concept.

• An accurate self-concept supports more strategic communication for identity needs and helps us project our desired self to others.

Practical Implications for Students, Relational Partners, and Professionals

• Improving listening skills can make us better students, better relational partners, and more successful professionals.

• These implications span educational settings, personal relationships, and workplace performance.

Formulas and Numerical References

• Proportions:
  $p<em>{adult} = 0.45$ $p</em>{worker} = 0.55$
  $p_{manager} = 0.63$

• Difference:
  $\Delta = p<em>{manager} - p</em>{worker} = 0.63 - 0.55 = 0.08$

• This corresponds to a difference of $8\%$ points.

Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications

• The transcript emphasizes the practical value of listening for learning, relationship maintenance, and identity construction.

• Implicit practical implications include that attentive listening supports understanding and task success; misinterpretation or poor listening can undermine relationships and outcomes.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

• Listening is a foundational element of effective communication and interpersonally oriented tasks such as relational maintenance, learning, and identity formation.

• Real-world relevance spans education, management, and everyday relationships, highlighting the practical payoff of developing listening skills.

References and Licensing

• Hargie, O. (2011). Skilled interpersonal interaction: Research, theory, and practice (5th ed.) (p. 177). London, England: Routledge.

• Chapter 5: Listening. In Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing is an adaptation of a work whose original author and publisher request anonymity and is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).

• © 2016, University of Minnesota. UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the original license. © 2025 University of Maryland Global Campus.