Authentic listening as relational praxis: theorizing from interpersonal, journalistic, ethnographic, and community work to a reflexive framework

Abstract This essay advances the concept of authentic listening as a multidimensional and multilevel process of relational, political, and ethical labor. Rather than conceptualizing authenticity as an individual trait or expressive ideal, as is often the case in communication research, we reframe it as a co-constructed achievement that emerges through listening, and is therefore shaped by power, positionality, and the conditions of reception. Drawing on four cases across different domains (interpersonal identity construction, Black feminist journalism, rural Extension-based health engagement, and urban ethnographic research), we trace three interrelated dimensions: authenticity as relational co-construction; authentic listening as emotional, ethical, and epistemic labor; and authentic listening as infrastructure for trust with community partners. Across these sites, listening is not a neutral behavior as it operates as a structure of relationship through which identities are affirmed, knowledge is legitimized, and voice is either redistributed or constrained. We contribute both conceptual tools and a reflexive, five-part framework to assess when listening practices foster inclusion and when they reproduce harm. In doing so, we call for a shift in communication studies of authenticity: from theorizing performance to theorizing reception, and from valuing expression to practicing accountability.