Question

"I know just how you feel, when that exact same thing happened to me I was so angry, so I just told her exactly how I felt. You should do the same thing. It worked for me!" This statement violates which of the principles of active listening? a. Validate emotions and paraphrase the speaker’s words. b. Remain ‘other-focused’ and validate emotions c. Avoid solving problems and remain ‘other’ focused d. Paraphrase the speaker’s words and avoid solving problems

Answer 1

Answer:

c. Avoid solving problems and remain ‘other’ focused

Explanation:

In psychology, the term active listening refers to an ability usually used by psychologists and counselors. It consists in the listener ability to fully concentrate, understand and respond to what the other person is saying.

One of the main principles of active listening implies to stay "other focused", in other words, to focus on what the other person is going through and not mix it with our own problems, previous experiences or what has worked for us in similar situations. Also, when we are active listening, we actually focus on listening to the person in order to understand him/her and we do not try to solve their problems in the first place.

In this example the person says "When that exact same thing happened to me I was angry I told her how I felt", here we can see that the person is not focusing in the other person experience but in their own previous experiences so the listener is not "other-focused".

We can also see that the listener says "You should do the same thing", here we can see that the listener is telling the other person what he/she should do and therefore is trying to solve the other person problems. Therefore, he is not avoiding solving problems.

Thus, the correct answer is C. Avoid solving problems and remain ‘other’ focused