St.

Anthony’s College
San Jose, Antique
HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Hand outs in Leadership Development 3

NAME: DATE:
TEACHER: SECTION:

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 3

FACTORS AFFECTING INTERPERSONAL AND GROUP COMMUNICATION

• Communication between human beings is difficult if not impossible to avoid, so

understanding the factors that influence communication might prevent hurt feelings or
slap in the face.

• INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION is the method and means for how we

communicate with one another. Communication can be between siblings, spouses,
strangers, co-workers, friends, etc. When you think about it, interpersonal communication
is an inherent part of our everyday lives.

• That's why effective communication is important, and there are four factors that
influence interpersonal communication:
1. Cultural factors
2. Situational factors
3. Developmental factors
4. Physical factors

1. CULTURAL FACTORS include language, belief systems, morality, perspective,

and customs. Language affects our communication because of the differences in
translations and colloquialisms. Language barriers can also arise within our own
language because of jargon or slang. Belief systems and morality have a large
impact on how we communicate and who we communicate with.

 Culture and communication are inseparable. This means that culture can be a
strong barrier to interpersonal communication between people of different
cultures. Individuals from different cultural backgrounds often carry an attitude
that their own culture is superior to that of others. This attitude hampers
interpersonal communication between two individuals or groups from different
cultural backgrounds. Individuals who are ethnocentric in nature often are under
the impression that anyone who does not belong to their group is either strange or
 inferior. This perception also prevents healthy social and political communication
between two groups.

2. SITUATIONAL FACTORS (also known as external factors) are influences that

do not occur from within the individual but from elsewhere like the environment
and others around you.
 Noise is one of the external factors that act as barriers to effective communication.
Noise interferes with or disrupts communication by causing a divergence between
the receiver and the communicator. Some examples of physical noise include
running motors, horns, screeching brakes and children crying. In a classroom
setting, if children create noise or murmur among themselves, this becomes a
hindrance to communication, preventing the teacher's message from being
received the way she intended.

3. DEVELOPMENTAL FACTORS play an important role in learning.

Development is the process of potentiality becoming actuality. The basic
human capacities of loving, knowing and willing seek expression in life. At conception,
unique genetic potentialities are endowed upon each person.
 Impaired sight and hearing, speech defects, dyslexia, and poor mental
health can be barriers to good communication. These factors should be
taken into consideration when evaluating the effectiveness of
communication

4. PHYSICAL FACTORS are settings or environmental context that play crucial

role in effective communication. Environmental context refers to physical
location or where the communication is taking place and when that
communication takes place.
 Factors of environmental context are time, space/distance, place/location,
weather. Some of them are easy to alter whereas, some may prove to be
tough obstacles in the process of effective communication.

a. TIME has an important role in a communication process.

 The time lag between countries in Europe / America and Asia has to
be overcome by the adoption of modern and fast communication
channels. Quickness of communication is the watchword in the
modern world of communication.
 People or organizations have to choose a fast channel of
communication with good alternatives. You have to choose a face-to-
face oral communication channel to give instructions to a worker, a
public address system to reach a large member of people scattered
over a large area, a visual signal in crowd management and a courier
system to reach clientele spread over and at distance and so on.
 b. SPACE/DISTANCE plays an important role in an oral communication
situation. It can act as a barrier to communication or act as an aid
promoting good communication. Experts classify an oral communication
situation on the basis of the distance maintained between sender and
receiver as Intimate, Personal, Official and Public.

 Space can act as barrier in a cross cultural or trans-national oral

communication situation. Overcrowding in elevators, jostling in office
corridors and elbowing in public transport systems are all external
factors that do affect communication as barriers.
 Proper maintenance of distance will help overcome this barrier. It will
remove miscommunication and prevent distortion of a message or
information.

c. PLACE/LOCATION is where a communication process takes place can

degenerate into a barrier to effective communication.
 Inconvenient place, rickety furniture, poor lighting, inadequacy of space
are all factors that make people irritable / impatient and annoyed. Friction
and conflict erupt easily in such places which mar the transaction of any
business, leave alone business communication.
 Good ambience and suitably lighted and ventilated places promote
effective communication.

d. WEATHER
 Unfavorable weather can act as a barrier to communication leading to
wrong perceptions or decision.