Difference Between Active Listening and Passive Listening

In active listening, the listener carefully pays attention to the words of the speaker and responds accordingly. On the other hand, in the case of passive listening, the listener only hears the speaker’s statement but does not respond to it.

An active listener is one that pays complete attention to the physical details of the speaker, for example, appearance, body language, expressions, etc. which play a crucial role in translating the meaning of the spoken matter. Oppositely, a passive listener neglects the physical aspects of the speaker, as he/she is not really interested in what is being said.

What is Listening?

Do you guys know that on an average 45-75% waking hours of an individual are spent in listening and not in talking? Listening is an activity which involves receiving, interpreting and responding to the message spoken by the speaker.

Effective listening is an important part of effective communication, which determines the person’s ability to understand the message. It can be active listening or passive listening,

This writeup will help you understand the difference between active listening and passive listening.

Content: Active Listening Vs Passive Listening

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Barriers to Active Listening
5. Examples
6. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Active Listening	Passive Listening
Meaning	Active Listening is a process of transforming the thought or statement into a clear message, with full-fledged involvement from the listener's side.	Passive Listening is a process of simply consuming the message, however, there is no involvement from the listener's side.
Process	Interactive	Mechanical
Role of Listener	Listener stimulates the speaker to speak up his ideas willingly, by displaying his/her interest, in the conversation.	Listener dispirits the speaker by showing boredom and disinterest, on his face.
Involves	Reacting while listening	Listening without reacting
Communication	Two-way Communication	One-way Communication
Feedback and Question	Present	Not present
Listener	Concentrates understands, responds and remembers the statement spoken by the speaker.	Thinks about other topics, while showing that he/she is listening.
Non-verbal clues shown by the listener	Change in facial expression, Rolling of eyes, showing interest by questioning or smiling, etc.	Yawning, looking here and there, showing boredom, being silent etc.

Definition of Active Listening

Active listening as the name suggests is the process wherein the listener, carefully hears what the speaker says, processes the message and then responds to the message so as to lead the conversation further.

Active Listening involves paying full attention to the speaker, showing interest in what he/she is saying through expressions, body language and asking questions at timely intervals, to make a good conversation.

He/she consciously makes effort to:

• Concentrate on what is being said
• Decode the message
• Participate in conversation
• Helps the speaker to deliver the message meaningfully.

Both verbal and non-verbal clues play an important role in active listening, wherein verbal clues involve repeating the lines or summarizing the matter spoken, providing suggestions or disagreeing with the thoughts and asking suitable questions, whereas non-verbal clues include nodding, eye contact, etc.

For Example: Active listening can be found in a press conference, debate, etc

Who are Active Listeners?

Active Listeners are those individuals who are actively involved in the process of communication, not just by attentively listening to the message but also by carefully noticing the manner in which the message is delivered. In other words, active listeners pay attention to the content and manner, i.e. the tone, pitch, body language, facial expressions, etc. of the speaker, when the message was delivered.

Active Listeners often seek clarifications, nod their head at timely intervals, ask leading questions and also summarize the content to exhibit that they followed the speaker.

Also Read: Difference Between Hearing and Listening

Definition of Passive Listening

Passive Listening means listening to the speaker during the communication but in an unconscious manner. He/She sits quietly without responding to the speaker. It is silent and patient listening, wherein the listener neither interrupts nor participates in the conversation.

This means that the listener is present physically, but may not be paying attention to the speaker’s speech due to which the message is not absorbed by the listeners as well as he/she may not be able to recall it in future.

The causes of passive listening are:

• Tiredness
• Multitasking
• Disinterest
• Ill health

Simply put, in passive listening, the listener is just listening to the words but not the message. This often leads to a misunderstanding between the speaker and listener, as the speaker would think that the listener has got the message accurately.

For example: Passive listening is seen during Seminar attended by the students

Who are Passive Listeners?

Passive Listeners are the ones who listen to the message partially. Moreover, there is also the absence of sensitivity to nuances, hidden meanings, nonverbal clues which are involved in the communication.

Basically, what a passive listener do is they let the other person speak without any interruption or clarification. Hence, communication with a passive listener is ineffective and incomplete.

Barriers to Active Listening

The barriers to active listening are represented below:

Now, let us discuss them one by one:

Inadequate Language Base	Active listening requires good language base so as to understand the speaker clearly. Even if the listener attempts to participate in the process of communication, if the language base is poor, it will act as a deterrent in actuve listening. For example: Suppose a teacher gives lecture in English, but the student is not fluent in English, so here inadequacy of language will act as a barrier.
Partial Listening	Partial listening is when people are involved in multiple tasks at the same time, which distracts them easily. For example: Suppose two people are talking on call, while one person is saying, the other person is flipping the pages of a file or drinking water, so there is lack of attention. Hence, as multitasking is done by the person, important points of the conversations tend to be missed out.
Lack of interest	Lack of interest in the topic of discussion is one of the major factor which acts as a barrier to the active listening process. For example: If one person is saying something to another person about politics, and the receiver is not at all interested in it, so there are chances that he will not pay his attention to what the speaker is saying.
Pre-judgement	There are instances when a listener pre-judges or forms his/her opinion about the speaker on the basis of his appearance, attire, accent, status, and mannerism. However, these biases differs person by person.
Negativity towards the Speaker	Listener's metal, emotional and psychological perspective towards the speaker, also plays a major role in active listening. This is because, if a person does not like the speaker or disapprove his ideas, then the chances of distortion or misinterpretation of the message is quite high. For example: Suppose the speaker and listener believe in different ideologies, so the listeners usually exhibits animosity, and also continues to disagree with the speaker's views.
Diffidence	Lack of confidence results in diffidence. That is why many listeners tend to understand their potential and decide beforehand that they won't be able to understand what the other person is going to speak. This often affects the process of communication.
Intolerance	Some listeners are intolerant in nature, which may be because he/she is over enthusiastic or impatient. And that is why he/she feels that speaker is slow in communication. Hence, before the speaker could finish speaking, the listener advances questions and also interuppts while he/she is speaking. And so the listener generally assumes everything in advance, which prevents him/her from active listening.
Deep-rooted beliefs	Some people are narrow minded, due to their so-called beliefs, judgement and stereotypes. These beliefs are so strong that it works as a barrier to new ideas and thoughts.

Examples

Given below are some common examples of active listening and passive listening:

Active Listening	Passive Listening
Group Discussion	Watching TV while eating food.
Students asking questions from the teacher on the topic explained.	Listening to someone while operating mobile.
Job Interview	Listening to the speaker during the presentation.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, listening is an attentive process, which requires a person to consciously think to listen properly. The degree of attentiveness has a crucial role to play in the process of listening. The difference between active and passive listening lies in the listener’s attention and involvement in the conversation.