Willingness to Listen Measure

Abstract

The Willingness to Listen Measure (WTLM) is a psychological scale designed to assess an individual’s underlying orientation or attitude toward the act of listening, rather than evaluating their technical listening skill. The instrument is predicated on the idea that many instances of poor listening stem not from a lack of ability, but from an unwillingness to engage when faced with challenging communicative environments. These challenges include dealing with disorganized, boring, or non-immediate speakers, or environmental distractions like noise. The scale is particularly relevant in professional and educational settings where effective communication is deemed critical for success.

Keywords

Willingness to Listen Measure, WTLM, listening attitude, communication skills, audience adaptation, communication competence, psychological instrument, listening orientation.

Authors

Virginia P. Richmond, Michael Hickson III.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the WTLM is to quantify the degree to which an individual is psychologically prepared to engage in the effort required for effective listening, especially when situational factors are unfavorable. Many employers cite strong listening skills as essential for professional success; however, instruction often focuses on skill rather than disposition. This measure provides a tool for identifying and addressing the motivational barriers to effective communication reception.

The scale aims to distinguish between those who fail to listen due to genuine lack of skill and those who intentionally disengage because they perceive the speaker or content to be inadequate. By measuring this orientation, educators and trainers can tailor interventions to address motivational issues directly, thereby improving overall communication effectiveness.

Construct

The WTLM measures the construct of Willingness to Listen, defined as the affective and cognitive predisposition to exert effort in processing oral messages, even under adverse conditions. This construct is viewed as a critical component of overall communication competence.

The 24 items specifically target willingness across several challenging dimensions, including tolerance for boredom, distraction (noise or preoccupation), speaker disorganization, lack of speaker immediacy/responsiveness, and disagreement with the speaker’s views. A high score reflects a disposition characterized by patience and acceptance of speaker flaws, while a low score indicates a demanding or critical orientation toward the speaker that results in premature disengagement from the listening task.

Validity

Specific details regarding comprehensive construct, concurrent, or predictive validity studies were not provided in the original introductory text for the measure. Typically, validation studies for measures of this type, which assess communication predisposition, involve correlating WTLM scores with related constructs, such as communication apprehension, receptivity, and observed listening behaviors in training settings. Researchers utilizing this scale are encouraged to establish robust validity evidence to confirm that the scale accurately measures the intended construct of listening orientation.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the Willingness to Listen Measure is reported to be high. The authors state that expected Alpha reliabilities for this instrument should be well above 0.85. This threshold suggests that the 24 items consistently measure the same underlying construct (willingness to listen) within the tested population. A reliability coefficient exceeding 0.85 is generally considered excellent for psychological research scales.

Factor Analysis

The original source content does not explicitly detail the results of a Factor Analysis conducted on the WTLM. Given the breadth of the scale items—which cover reactions to boredom, noise, disorganization, and differing views—it is plausible that the scale is either intended as a unidimensional measure of general listening orientation or comprises several sub-factors representing different types of listening resistance. Researchers utilizing this scale often perform exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the dimensional structure of the measure.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, Likert scale.

Format: 24-item inventory utilizing a 5-point response scale.

Language Available: English (Original development language).

Population Group: General population, often used in educational and corporate training settings.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (suitable for college students and professionals).

Population Details: Individuals interested in assessing their attitude toward effortful communication reception.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their level of agreement with each statement on a scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).

Keywords

Listening orientation, communication disposition, receiver apprehension, audience engagement, communication training, psychological measurement, Richmond & Hickson.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale appears to be freely available for academic and research use, hosted on the website of James C. McCroskey. The primary reference detailing the scale was published in 2001, suggesting the scale was developed around or prior to that year.

Test Year: Circa 2001 (based on publication reference).

Permissions/Availability: The instrument is publicly accessible online via the link provided: http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/measures/wtlisten.htm.

Reference’s

Richmond, V. P., & Hickson, M. III. (2001). Going public: A practical guide to public talk. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Items of the Willingness to Listen Measure

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The WTLM utilizes a 5-point Likert scale response format:

• Strongly Disagree = 1
• Disagree = 2
• Neutral = 3
• Agree = 4
• Strongly Agree = 5

The 24 scale items are as follows:

1. I dislike listening to boring speakers.
2. Generally‚ I can listen to a boring speaker.
3. I am bored and tired while listening to a boring speaker.
4. I will listen when the content of a speech is boring.
5. Listening to boring speakers about boring content makes me tired‚ sleepy‚ and bored.
6. I am willing to listen to boring speakers about boring content.
7. Generally‚ I am unwilling to listen when there is noise during a speaker’s presentation.
8. Usually‚ I am willing to listen when there is noise during a speaker’s presentation.
9. I am accepting and willing to listen to speakers who do not adapt to me.
10. I am unwilling to listen to speakers who do not do some adaptation to me.
11. Being preoccupied with other things makes me less willing to listen to a speaker.
12. I am willing to listen to a speaker even if I have other things on my mind.
13. While being occupied with other things on my mind‚ I am unwilling to listen to a speaker.
14. I have a willingness to listen to a speaker‚ even if other important things are on my mind.
15. Generally‚ I will not listen to a speaker who is disorganized.
16. Generally‚ I will try to listen to a speaker who is disorganized.
17. While listening to a non-immediate‚ non-responsive speaker‚ I feel relaxed with the speaker.
18. While listening to a non-immediate‚ non-responsive speaker‚ I feel distant and cold toward that speaker.
19. I can listen to a non-immediate‚ non-responsive speaker.
20. I am unwilling to listen to a non-immediate‚ non-responsive speaker.
21. I am willing to listen to a speaker with views different from mine.
22. I am unwilling to listen to a speaker with views different from mine.
23. I am willing to listen to a speaker who is not clear about what he or she wants to say.
24. I am unwilling to listen to a speaker who is not clear‚ not credible‚ and abstract.

The scoring procedure is as follows:

1. Add scores for items 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, and 23.
2. Add scores for items 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, and 24.
3. Total score = 72 – (Total from Step 1) + (Total from Step 2).

Interpretation of the final score is typically:

• Scores above 89: Indicate a high willingness to listen.
• Scores between 59 and 89: Indicate a moderate willingness to listen.
• Scores below 59: Indicate a low willingness to listen.