Active listening in the context of Social functioning

A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness.

Interpersonal skills are actions used to effectively interact with others. Interpersonal skills relate to categories of dominance vs. submission, love vs. hate, affiliation vs. aggression, and control vs. autonomy (Leary, 1957). Positive interpersonal skills include entertainment, persuasion, active listening, showing care, delegation, hospitality and stewardship, among others. Social psychology, an academic discipline focused on research relating to social functioning, studies how interpersonal skills are learned through societal-based changes in attitude, thinking, and behavior.

A difficult conversation is a dialogue addressing sensitive, controversial, or emotionally charged topics, often with the potential for conflict, discomfort, or disagreement. Broadly, a difficult conversation is anything an individual finds hard to talk about. These types of conversations often require navigating complex social, emotional, and cognitive factors and active listening skills in order to foster productive communication and avoid misunderstandings, escalation, or relationship damage. In many cases, they may also require addressing power dynamics, historical context, or cultural differences in order to facilitate effective communication and avoid perpetuating harmful patterns of interaction.

Difficult conversations are often characterised by the presence of competing goals, values, or interests between the parties involved. They also have the potential for triggering deep-seated emotions, beliefs, or personal vulnerabilities, making them uncomfortable and hard to initiate. Even everyday topics can provoke anxiety, especially when self-esteem or close connections are at risk. People often perceive a conflict between honesty and kindness in difficult conversations, overestimating the harm of truth-telling, although careful honesty can strengthen trust. Fear of anger, shame, or saying the wrong thing also frequently prevents open dialogue, particularly around sensitive issues such as race.

Communication in small groups consists of three or more people who share a common goal and communicate collectively to achieve it. During small group communication, interdependent participants analyze data, evaluate the nature of the problem(s), decide and provide a possible solution or procedure. Additionally, small group communication provides strong feedback, unique contributions to the group as well as a critical thinking analysis and self-disclosure from each member. Small groups communicate through an interpersonal exchange process of information, feelings and active listening in both two types of small groups: primary groups and secondary groups. Furthermore, small group communication can be interpreted as a systems perspective,indicating that individuals may interpret the same message differently. For example, in a group project, individuals might have different perspectives of their own goal. These interactions are dynamic because members are continuously sharing ideas, emotion, receiving and sending messages, making small group communication an evolving process. Communication grows, and with it, roles develop. These roles fall into three categories: task roles, social roles, and anti-group roles. Research has indicated that understanding these roles and how they are connected to the group’s dynamic will have a positive impact on group collaboration .