Ethics, Decision-Making, and Assertive Communication

Assertive communication can be defined as a person’s ability to speak and interact in a way that considers and respects others’ rights and opinions while defending their own personal rights, needs and limits. Ethical aspects engage in this definition; thus, ethics must theoretically support assertive communication. In addition, it becomes necessary to understand that assertive communication combines several psychological processes. So, it is relevant to analyse assertive communication characteristics psychologically. This chapter aims to analyse ethical theories of Virtue, Responsibility, and Care in addition to psychological theories, such as the Two Systems of Thought and the Four Component Model of Morality, to support that assertive communication is a form of ethical behaviour. The conclusions show that the analysed theories supply adequate theoretical support from philosophical ethics and psychology to assertive communication and which combined to allow a deeper understanding of the construct.