4.12: Barriers to Effective Communication I
A communication barrier is any distortion or interruption during a conversation, resulting in miscommunication of the message. A good communicator should know these barriers and continuously check for the listener's understanding by obtaining feedback.
Communication barriers include the following:
Physiological barriers: They are limitations caused by a person's health condition or disability, such as hearing loss, poor eyesight, illness, or unconsciousness. An example to overcome this barrier is using a visual aid to educate a blind patient causes a potential barrier.
Psychological barrier: A person's state of mind can disrupt communication. Psychological factors include anger, preoccupation with other thoughts, stress, and low self-esteem. For instance, talking about a joyful event that happened last night to an angry and frustrated person causes a problem as they might not be interested in it.
Attitudinal barrier: It includes a person's behavior or perception that causes a barrier. Any conflict between the sender and receiver can impact effective communication. Likewise, a resistant person or someone with decreased motivation can block effective communication.
Perceptual barriers: Mental blockages caused by diverse experiences or cultural backgrounds can cause perceptual barriers. They occur when a person receives a message differently from how it was intended. Perceptual barriers can hamper understanding or cause a completely different message to be received. For example, if someone says they are "fine" with a sarcastic tone or "ok" in a low mumbling manner, they may not be fine or ok.
Language barrier: A language barrier is any linguistic limitation causing confusion or difficulty in understanding. Examples are people speaking different languages and dialects or language disabilities such as stuttering.
Physical and environmental barriers: Conversations can easily be distracted by physical factors such as noise, poor lighting, or unhygienic rooms. For example, communication can easily be disturbed in a crowded and noisy room. Also, environmental factors like humidity or cold temperatures can significantly affect communication.
