Importance of Listening in Family Communication



Importance of Listening in Family Communication

Introduction

The paper intends to explore the significance of listening skills in the effective family communication. Communication is core to any relationship as it is considered as the distinctive and transactional form of day to day communication. Human communication is based on the mutual influence with the aim to effectively manage the relationships. The communication can be simply described as the exchange of thoughts, ideas, and feelings when two or more people interact face to face (Steven et al., 2011). Hence, the family is the first and foremost object for the people to whom they start communicating since they born. The positive and effective communication is believed to be the cornerstone in the foundation of happy and contend families. The families slowly and gradually deteriorate with the absence of quality communication skills. Hence, it is believed that the strong families are built on the effective and constructive communication where in each and every member can openly communicate their emotions, trepidation, fears, elations, and distress. Therefore, the family communication is considered as something more than the exchange of words among the members of the family. It just does not include our words or statements but it takes account of our facial expression, postures, tones, behaviors, and gestures.

In short, it can be wrapped up that the good and effective communication amongst the family members is conducive in better understanding, reducing conflicts, and improving relationships. most of the people think that the communication is based only on the skills of conversing or talking such as advise, reassure, argue, appreciate, and criticize but it is only the first half of the equation of communication. The other half is the effective listening in fact listening is more crucial communication skill than the others. Hence, the effective listening holds the crucial significance in the communication skills.

Discussion

Significance of Effective Communication in Family

The effective communication is the most distinctive and significant attribute of the happy and healthy families. It is believed to be the most indispensable building block of family relations whether it is the relationship between the married couples, parents and children, and relationship among the siblings. It is considered as the most important and essential to promote respect among the family members for each others' requirements and wants. Otherwise, in the absence of effective communication, the family life becomes extremely difficult. According to Epstein et al. (1993), the family communication is the exchange of verbal as well as non verbal information between the members of the family. Hence, the communication holds the most important position in strengthening the bonds between the family members as it enables each and every member of the family to express their wishes, ideas, thoughts, and concerns. Therefore, the effective and truthful communication enables the family members to love each other, avoid conflicts, and resolve the issues that may come across in their family. According to Perkins and Fogarty (2005), the effective communication is the essence of love and admiration for one ...