Defensive Climates

Defensive climates were researched by Jack Gibb. He noted that some people who are guarded because they feel disconfirmed. This means that people from supportive and confirming environments are more likely to share and be open with you. Although I live in a supportive and confirming environment now, it was not always that way. Whenever I am new to a group, I find myself being guarded. From reading the text, I realize this is because I was in a dominantly disconfirming environment at the time. When I moved to San Jose from Southern California, I felt like no one acknowledged me. I felt like I was just there, but no one really cared what I felt. When people did try to get to know me, our conversations just scratched the surface and did not get very deep. These people concluded that I was closed off and did not want to get to know them. I felt people were too judgmental, which Gibb also noted as defensiveness-producing communication behaviors. The text labels this as evaluation versus description. Gibb noted that people do not feel "psychologically safe" when we feel we are the subject of judgement. This is what causes us to become closed off.