In essence, I am an active listener. This is because while listening to someone, I do make an effort to hear not just the words that is being said, however more significantly, to the complete message that is being put across and I keep more eye contact. To do this I need to focus on the speaker very carefully (Scott McLean, 2004).
I find this accurate as I reflect on my listening tendencies. As a rule, I don't allow myself to be distracted by what might be happening around me and I don’t form any counter argument while the speaker is talking. Nor do I allow myself to get exhausted, and lose the focus on what the speaker is saying or talking about (Scott McLean, 2004). In the event that I find it especially hard to concentrate on what the speaker is saying, I always repeat the speaker’s words mentally the way he or she says them and this has an effect of reinforcing the message and helping me to remain focused.
In my family setting, I would be part of me and my mom dyad. This is because I usually find myself having a lot of conversations with my mother than anyone else. While conversing with my mother, I am always a content-oriented listener while my mother is a people-oriented listener (Scott McLean, 2004). As a content-oriented listener, I am interested in the message regardless of whether it bodes well, what it means, and whether it's really accurate. I give less regard to her than to what she is saying, its implications, and its validity and continually hoping to learn from her.
As a people-oriented listener, my mother on the other hand is always interest in listening to me. She will dependably listen attentively to the message so as to figure out how I am thinking and how I feel about my message. In each conversation, she generally has a set of question that she hopes to be answered. In conclusion, my mother is constantly more attentive to me than to what am saying.
References
Scott McLean. (2004). perception and listening. In The Basics of Interpersonal Communication (pp. 36-40). Pearson.
