Listening has been reported to be an important component in judgments of
communication competence in the workplace. To investigate the contributions of
listening to judgments of competence, this study examined how organization
members use listening and listening-related factors in judgments of communica
tion competence across situations. The results support the notion that listening
plays a central role in assessments of communication competence. Analysis
reveals that listening accounts for approximately one-third of the characteristics
perceivers use to evaluate communication competence in co-workers. Addition
ally, the results suggest organization members differ in their use of listening in
judgments of competence in several kinds of situations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, C.A., & Sedikides, C. (1991). Thinking about people: Contributions of a typological alternative to associationistic and dimensional models of person perception . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 203-217.
2.
Argyris, C. (1962). Interpersonal competence and organizational effectiveness . Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
3.
Barnard, C.I. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
4.
Borisoff, D., & Hahn, D.F. (1992). Dimensions of intimacy: The interrelationships between gender and listening. Journal of the International Listening Association, 6, 23-41.
5.
Borisoff, D., & Merrill, L. (1991). Gender issues and listening. In D. Borisoff & M. Purdy (Eds.), Listening in everyday life: A personal and professional approach. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
6.
Borman, W.C. (1987). Personal constructs, performance schemata, and "folk theories" of subordinate effectiveness: Explorations in an army officer sample. Organizational Behavior and Decision Processes, 40, 307-322.
7.
Bostrom, R., & Waldhart, E. (1980). Components in listening behavior: The role of short-term memory. Human Communication Research, 6, 211-227.
8.
Bostrom, R., & Waldhart, E. (1988). Memory models and the measurement of listening . Communication Education, 37, 1-18.
9.
Brownell, J. (1990). Perceptions of effective listeners: A management studyThe Journal of Business Communication, 27, 401-415.
10.
Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
11.
Cooper, L., & Husband, R. (1993). Developing a model of organizational listening competency. Journal of the International Listening Association , 7, 6-34.
12.
Day, D.V., & Lord, R.G. (1992). Expertise and problem categorization: The role of expert processing in organizational sense-making. Journal of Management Studies, 29, 35-47.
13.
Diez, M.E. (1984). Communicative competence: An interactive approach . In R. Bostrom (Ed.), Communication yearbook 8 (pp. 56-79). Beverly Hills: Sage.
14.
Dutton, J.E., & Jackson, S.E. (1987). Categorizing strategic issues: Links to organizational action. Academy of Management Review, 12, 76-90.
15.
Feldman, J.M. (1981). Beyond attribution theory: Cognitive process in performance appraisal. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 127-148.
16.
Golen, S. (1990). A factor analysis of barriers to effective listening . The Journal of Business Communication, 27, 25-36.
17.
Hauenstein, N.M., & Alexander, R.A. (1991). Rating ability in performance judgements: The joint influence of implicit theories and intelligence. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 300-323.
18.
Husband, R.L., Cooper, L.O., & Monsour, W.M. (1988). Factors underlying supervisors' perceptions of their own listening behavior. Journal of the International Listening Association, 2, 97-112.
19.
Husband, R.L., Schenck, T., & Cooper, L.O. (1988, March). A further look at managerial listening . Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Listening Association, Scottsdale, AZ.
20.
Jablin, F. (1979). Superior-subordinate communication: The state of the art. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 1201-1222.
21.
Kim, M.P., & Rosenberg, S. (1980). Comparison of two structural models of implicit personality theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 38, 375-389.
22.
Lance, C.E., Woehr, D.J., & Fisicaro, S.A. (1991). Cognitive categorization processes in performance evaluation: Confirmatory tests of two models. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 12, 1-20.
23.
Lentner, M., & Bishop, T. (1986). Experimental design and analysis. Blacksburg, VA: Valley Book Company.
24.
Lewis, M.H., & Reinsch, N.L. (1988). Listening in organizational environments. The Journal of Business Communication, 25, 49-67.
25.
Miller, M.M. (1990). VBPro [Computer program]. Knoxville, TN: College of Communications.
26.
Monge, P., Bachman, S., Dillard, J., & Eisenberg, E. (1982). Communicator competence in the workplace: Model testing and scale development. In M. Burgoon (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 5 (pp. 502-527). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
27.
Nathan, B.R., & Lord, R.G. (1983). Cognitive categorization and dimensional schemata: A process approach to the study of halo in performance ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 102-114.
28.
Nichols, R. (1947). Listening: Questions and problems. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 33, 83-86.
29.
Papa, M.J., & Tracy, K. (1988). Communicative indices of employee performance with new technology. Communication Research, 15, 524-544.
30.
Patton, W.E., & King, R. (1992). The use of judgment models in sales force selection decisions. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management , 7, 1-14.
31.
Pavitt, C., & Haight, L. (1985). The "competent communicator" as a cognitive prototype . Human Communication Research, 12, 225-241.
32.
Pavitt, C., & Haight, L. (1986). Implicit theories of communicative competence: Situational and competence level judgements of prototype and target. Communication Monographs, 53, 221-235.
33.
Rankin, P. (1929). Listening ability. Proceedings of the Ohio State Educational Conference. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.
34.
Redding, C. (1972). Communication within the organization: An interpretive review of theory and research. New York: Industrial Communication Council.
35.
Rosch, E., Mervis, C.B., Gray, W.D., Johnson, D.M., & Boyes-Braem, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 382-439.
36.
Rubin, R.B. (1990). Communication competence. In G. M. Phillips & J. T. Wood (Eds.), Speech communication: Essays to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Speech Communication Association (pp. 94-129). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University.
37.
Scrull, T.K., & Wyer, R.S. (1989). Person memory and judgment. Psychological Review, 96, 58-83.
38.
Seibert, J. (1990). Listening in the organizational context. In R. Bostrom (Ed.), Listening behavior (pp. 119-127). New York: Guilford.
39.
Smeltzer, L.R. (1993). Emerging questions and research paradigms inbusiness communication research. The Journal of Business Communication , 30, 181-198.
40.
Smeltzer, L.R., & Watson, K.W. (1984). Listening: An empirical comparison of discussion length and level of incentive. Central States Speech Communication Journal, 35, 166-170.
41.
Spitzberg, B. & Cupach, W. (1984). Interpersonal communication competence. Beverly Hills: Sage.
42.
Steil, L.K., Barker, L.L., & Watson, K.W. (1983). Effective listening: Key to your success. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
43.
Sypher, B.D. (1984). The importance of social cognitive abilities in organizations. In R. Bostrom (Ed.), Competence in communication: A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 103-127). Beverly Hills: Sage.
44.
Sypher, B.D., Bostrom, R.N., & Seibert, J.H. (1987). Listening abilities in the organizational context: Relationships with other communication abilities and predictors of upward mobility. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Communication, University of Kentucky, Lexington.
45.
Sypher, B.D., & Zorn, T.E. (1986). Communication-related abilities and upward mobility: A longitudinal investigation. Human Communication Research , 12, 420-431.
46.
Watson, K.W., & Barker, L.L. (1984). Listening behavior: Behavior and measurement. In R. Bostrom (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 8 (pp.178-197). Beverly Hills: Sage.
47.
Weaver, C. (1972). Human listening: Process and behavior. Indianapolis:Bobbs-Merrill.
Wiemann, J.M. (1977). Explication and test of a model of communication competence. Human Communication Research, 3, 195-213.
50.
Wiemann, J.M., & Backlund, P. (1980). Current theory and research in communicative competence . Review of Educational Research, 50, 185-200.
51.
Woehr, D.J. (1992). Performance dimension accessibility: Implications for rating accuracy. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 357-367.
52.
Wolvin, A., & Coakley, C.G. (1992). Listening (4th ed.). Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Publishers .
53.
Wyer, R.S., & Gordon, S. (1984). The cognitive representation of social information . In R. Wyer & T. Skrull (Eds.) Handbook of social cognition (pp.73-150). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
