TRAIT THEORY & THE LISTENING PHENOMENON

"..the impact of any context was mediated by how people perceived that context, and that such perceptions are also trait-based, we began to comprehend the overpowering potential of traits."

"..in terms of impact on communication behavior the context does not exist separate from the trait-based perceptions of the people within that context."
(McCroskey, 1997)

TRAIT THEORY & THE LISTENING PHENOMENON

THE LISTENING PHENOMENON

• PHYSIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 
• PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

TRAIT THEORY

POSITS THAT HUMANS HAVE TRAITS, SPECIFIC TO EACH PERSON, AND THAT THESE TRAITS AFFECT OUR BEHAVIOR IN COMMUNICATION-RELATED SITUATIONS

LISTENING STYLES

• PEOPLE
• ACTION
• TIME
• CONTENT

LS/SEX/GENDER ROLE

• COMMUNAL ROLE - PEOPLE LS
• AGENTIC ROLE - ACTION, TIME, CONTENT LS
• FEMALE - PEOPLE LS
• MALE - ACTION, TIME, CONTENT LS

LS, GENDER ROLE, PERSONALITY

• FEMININITY & MASCULINITY - PEOPLE LS
• EXTRAVERSION - PEOPLE LS
• NEUROTICISM - ACTION, TIME, PEOPLE LS
• PSYCHOTICISM - TIME LS

TRAIT THEORY CLEARLY HELPS EXPLAIN

"WE IMPACT OUR SITUATIONS RATHER THAN LETTING OUR SITUATIONS IMPACT US"