Listening Across the Ages: Measuring Generational Listening Differences with the LCI-R

ABSTRACT In this study, I consider ways that identification with diverse generational cultures might impact conceptualization of what it means to listen well. Using an online survey, I employ the Revised Listening Concepts Inventory (LCI-R) to explore listening cognitive constructs. Based on 433 survey responses gathered between 2016 and 2019 in the Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest, and Rocky Mountain Range regions of the United States, I found differences between Generation Z and Generation X on learning, relationship building, and evaluative listening cognitive constructs, as well as differences on the evaluative listening cognitive construct between Generation Z and members of all other generations, including Millennial, Generation X, and Boomer cultural cohorts. Based on these initial findings, I suggest that listening scholars pursue future research with cross-generational listening expectations and listening practitioners be attentive to intergenerational differences that inflect our communicative values and behaviors.