Communication Self-Assessment In Interpersonal Communication

All the communication self-assessment tests helped me discover a lot about myself. The communication self-assessment score that most surprised me was Affective Orientation. My affective orientation was 31, which falls in the category of lower affective orientation. The Interpersonal Communication book states that, “affective orientation refers to the extent to which they are aware of their emotions and subsequently use that awareness as information to make decisions, engage in communicative actions” (p.46, IP). My friends and family members often tell me that I am not very emotional. I was surprised that, this test was able to accurately predict that. I am aware of my feelings, but I actually don’t consult my emotions while making decisions. So the score tells me that my feelings do not necessarily interfere my desions. I also was surprised to leanr that being emotional does not necessarily mean that I use my emotions to take decisions. I personally

This is the area where I might struggle in “seeing patients as people”. Being able to balance the impact our emotions have on decisions, is vital. Sometimes low affective oreinttion can prevent you from seeing pateints as people. My scores demonstrate that my affective orientation is low. Only when you can understand your emotions, you can understand somebody else’s emotions. There is a chance that, since I do not use my emotions to take decisions, I will not be able to see the patient as a person. I might not be able to comfort them, as I will not connect to them emotionally. The low affective orientation will be visible through my non- verbal clues and probably even through my conversation. As a result, the patient might not be able to connect with me and believe in my consultation. Consequently, affective orientation is an important part of a pharmacist’s role, so moderate levels of affective orientation is essential for my success as a