Improving officer-soldier communication through active listening skills training with Army ROTC cadets

ABSTRACT

Military leaders are tasked with communicating effectively with their subordinates. Active listening skills are vital to this communication; however, an investigation of active listening skills in the military is lacking. Sixty-four Army ROTC cadets participated in a quasi-experimental study to determine the effectiveness of an active listening skills curriculum on developmental counseling. Self-report ratings suggested a positive treatment effect with the cadets in the experimental group from pretest to posttest on the sensing and processing subscales on the Active Empathic Listening Scale (AELS), and both self-report and observer ratings demonstrated a positive treatment effect on the Counseling Skills Scale (CSS) when compared to the control group. The study provides initial evidence on the impact of implementing an active listening skills curriculum on leadership development within developmental counseling in the military.

KEYWORDS:

• Active listening
• officer training
• communication

Acknowledgments

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligation as researchers, we are reporting that we receive financial compensation as part of an Army-funded research. We have disclosed these interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and we have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from that involvement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research was funded by the US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (US Army ACC-APG-RTP) with federal award number: W911NF-2-0044. The study was approved for human subjects research by university IRB and US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. All data collected were coded for anonymity and stored on the first and second authors’ password-protected computers. Video provided no identifying information and all scenarios utilized were general situations. All participants were provided information and consent.