Өзіне сенімділік және құқық қорғау шеберлігі

Capacity of being self assured without being aggressive to defend a point of view
Assertiveness is the quality of being self assured and confident without being aggressive to defend a right point of view or a relevant statement. In the field of psychology and psychotherapy, it is a skill that can be learned and a mode of communication. Dorland's Medical Dictionary defines assertiveness as:
"a form of behavior characterized by a confident declaration or affirmation of a statement without need of proof; this affirms the person's rights or point of view without either aggressively threatening the rights of another (assuming a position of dominance) or submissively permitting another to ignore or deny one's rights or point of view." Assertiveness is a communication skill that can be taught and the skills of assertive communication effectively learned. Assertiveness is a method of critical thinking, where an individual speaks up in defense of their views or in light of erroneous information. Additionally, assertive people are capable of being outspoken and analyze information and point out areas of information lacking substance, details or evidence. Thus, it can be noted that assertiveness supports creative thinking and effective communication. The level of assertiveness demonstrated in any human community is a factor of social and cultural practices at the time of inquiry. These factors can evolve with time and may vary from one community to another. For example, nowadays, in the western world, there are global public discussions about controversial topics such as drug addiction, rape and sexual abuse of women and children, which were not openly discussed in 1940. However, during the second half of the 20th century, assertiveness was increasingly singled out as a behavioral skill taught by many personal development experts, behavior therapists, and cognitive behavioral therapists. But now assertiveness is often linked to self esteem. The term and concept was popularized to the general public by books such as Your Perfect Right: A Guide to Assertive Behavior (1970) by Robert Eating.

Techniques of assertiveness can vary widely. Manuel Smith, in his 1975 book When I Say No, I Feel Guilty, offered some of the following behaviors:

Negative assertion Psychological skills in general including assertiveness and social skills have been posed as intervention for a variety of disorders with some empirical support. In connection with gender theory, "Tannen argues that men and women would both benefit from learning to use the others' style. So, women would benefit from assertiveness training just as men might benefit from sensitivity training". Regarding language revitalization and to avoid passive bilingualism phenomena, assertiveness has become a key discursive asset for speakers of minoritized languages. An example of this use is Mantinc el català, that aims to raise self awareness in Catalan speakers about the importance of not shifting unconsciously and at first glance to Spanish in conversations with unknown people.

Assertiveness may be practiced in an unbalanced way, especially by those new to the process: "[One] problem with the concept of assertiveness is that it is both complex and situation specific. Behaviors that are assertive in one circumstance may not be so in another". More particularly, while "unassertiveness courts one set of problems, over assertiveness creates another." Assertiveness manuals recognize that "many people, when trying out assertive behavior for the first time, find that they go too far and become aggressive." In the late 1970s and early 1980s, in the heyday of assertiveness training, some so called assertiveness training techniques were distorted and "people were told to do some pretty obnoxious things in the name of assertiveness. Like blankly repeating some request over and over until you got your way". Divorced from respect for the rights of others, so called assertiveness techniques could be psychological tools that might be readily abused: The line between repeatedly demanding with sanctions ("broken record") versus coercive nagging, emotional blackmail, or bullying, could be a fine one, and the caricature of assertiveness training as "training in how to get your own way or how to become as aggressive as the next person" was perpetuated.