Critical competence

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Under criticism competence is understood on the one hand the ability people positively and negatively in the sense of the person and to criticize the matter, on the other hand, the ability to accept criticism in the sense of the person and the thing itself, productive process. Critical competence therefore consists of an active and a passive component. It is a facet of social competence that influences human interaction behavior and the success of interaction.

background

Criticism is a problem for most people in the Western world . It has negative connotations, is reluctant to receive and usually is also reluctant to give - at least if it is to be constructive, well-thought-out criticism that demands and encourages others. The term critical competence sees criticism, if used correctly, as a creative resource that is indispensable for learning processes and further development. Because criticism provides the basis for a person's personal development and is therefore a cornerstone for learning processes in various areas of society, such as school education, adult education or in business, which, under terms such as soft skills or key qualifications, social skills in personnel selection and development has discovered for himself. It is particularly important to have critical skills in leadership personalities, such as B. teachers or superiors, as they have a great influence on the people for whom they are responsible through their criticism behavior.

Operationalization

There has been little research in social science research on how to determine the level of critical competence of people. A model developed by Bruce (2007) is based on the “social skill” theory according to Hargie et al. (2002). This is a communication- theoretical approach that presents social skills that allow an individual to influence his environment through targeted behavior in his own way. It includes a representation of individual categories and levels of interpersonal communication. In Bruce's empirical model , the following constructs turn out to be suitable for measuring critical competence on an individual level. For active criticism competence these are:

Willingness to cooperate / taking on new perspectives, willingness to conflict / self-monitoring and humor can also be used to measure passive criticism. In addition, the following were identified as relevant for this part of the critical competence:

Typologies

With the help of these measurement constructs, Bruce identifies four types of criticism styles for both aspects of critical competence.

Active critical skills

The competent critic:

People who are actively competent in criticism are characterized by a high degree of conflict ability within the framework of optimal conflict readiness with little self-monitoring. In addition, they are entitled to an average level of cooperation and perspective. In addition, they have a high level of self-worth and a good, but not exaggerated, sense of humor.

The chummy critic:

The chummy critic scores high on most of the scales. However, this is not optimal because this type of criticism shows a high willingness to cooperate and tends to take on perspectives. It is therefore difficult for him to make uncomfortable decisions and to enforce them. In addition, the distinctly chummy criticism broadcaster tends to interpret situations from a humorous point of view, so that even problems that require serious behavior and serious interpretation do not experience them. For him, social recognition is very important.

The authoritarian critic:

This type of criticism is characterized by a high ability to deal with conflict, i.e. a high willingness to conflict / low self-monitoring as well as a high self-esteem and a rather weak willingness to cooperate / take on new perspectives. The attitude of this type towards criticism can consequently be described as clearly authoritarian. His efforts to put himself in the perspective of what he has criticized are very weak, as are the opportunities to come to a meaningful cooperation with him. With a pronounced strength of his self-esteem, he has the opportunity to act independently of the judgment of others. The authoritarian style of criticism often depicts a lack of social competence. This deficiency is compensated by such persons with a critical attitude towards power.

The conflict-averse critic:

The conflict-averse type of criticism is characterized by a low conflict ability and low self-worth. The conflict-shy critic has the quality of being able to empathize with other people's perspectives in a positive way. His willingness to cooperate is high. He has a sense of humor that helps him to find his way around in tense situations and to cope with these situations. However, if the level of tension is too high, this type of criticism quickly becomes difficult to cope with. Since his willingness to conflict is low and his concerns about expressing himself critically are high, he avoids dealing with potential conflicts in a meaningful way.

Passive critical skills

The competent critic:

The competent critic is able to process criticism expressed to him constructively. Since he is not afraid of creative conflict, he deals with criticism in such a way that on the one hand he accepts the criticism from a different perspective, i.e. can question himself in order to adjust and improve his own behavior if necessary. The competent critic examines criticism of others and, if necessary, recognizes his own shortcomings in it in order to then work through them. At the same time, he is serious about criticism from others. He is also able to answer problematic tensions with a humorous attitude and thus defuse them. On the other hand, this guy is not set up to level productive critical situations with a humorous attitude. The competent critic reflects on his critical sides and realizes that criticism can contribute to the development of his personal abilities.

The conflicting critic:

The conflicting critic is an independent type of critic. On the one hand, he has a high degree of willingness to conflict, on the other hand, he has only little self-monitoring. His ability to cooperate / take on perspectives is also not well developed. His willingness to change and accept himself and his ability to use humor are also only slightly developed. This type of conflictual critic sees criticism more as paternalism and is not prepared to productively follow the criticism of third parties. If you criticize him, the conflict with him is almost inevitable. The clarification of such a conflict also raises problems, as this type of criticism, with its low level of willingness to cooperate, feels attacked and reacts more opinionated.

The cooperative critic:

The cooperative critic has a willingness to cooperate, change and accept, and also has a sense of humor. However, he lacks the ability to deal with conflict. This critic has a tendency to listen to a lot, but not to question the opinions and criticism of others and not to implement them productively. The cooperative critic shows frequent fluctuations in behavior because he is ready to adapt quickly. He shies away from conflict, so he has few opportunities to deal constructively with criticism from others. A sign of the cooperative critic is the hasty approval.

The independent critic:

The independent critic is characterized by a low willingness to change. On the one hand, this type of criticism is capable of handling conflicts in a meaningful way and of cooperating within their framework. On the other hand, he does not use these opportunities to advance his personal characteristics. The independent critic leaves his own perspective only a little, since he considers it correct, and disguises his latent know-it-all behind humorous behavior. Despite a generally positive attitude, this type of critic has problems processing criticism so positively that it can develop further.

literature

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  • A. Bandura: Social-cognitive learning theory. H. Kober, Übers. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1979. (Original: Social learning theory. 1977)
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  • A. Bruce: Critical Competence in Management - The Influence of Critical Competence on the Professional Success of Managers . Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-937404-38-7 .
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