INDIVIDUAL BARRIERS

Barriers created by the sender and receiver are known as individual

barriers. Such barriers include the following:

 Differences in personality: Personality is the set of attributes that

define a person. Every person holds a distinct personality. This
individual nature of personality acts as a barrier to communication.
 Perceptual differences: Perception is the unique way in which
people respond or interpret an object. The difference in perception
is a very common problem in effective communication. It for
example, a subscriber of BTTB’s land phone in Bangladesh may
positively react to the government’s move to privatize BTTB
expecting a better service. But an employee of BTTB might view
this as step to cut jobs and retrench existing employees.
 Fear: Fear of reprisal or attack, fear of criticism for knowing very
little etc. may create a problem in communication.
 Stereotyping: Stereotyping is generalizing about a class of people
or events that is widely held by a given culture. In case of
stereotyping, people develop communication statements and
mindsets about others. This orientation exposes itself in such
statements and mindsets. For example, “All used car salesmen are
dishonest,” or “All foreign recruiting agents are liars.” Such all
inclusive perceptions not only are seldom correct but they also
block mental activity that is necessary for successful
communication.
 Halo Effect: The halo effect is the tendency to use a general
impression based on one or a few characteristics to judge other
characteristics of that same individual. For example, a manger
might identify one trait of an employee, such as an excellent
attendance record, and perceive that the employee’s productivity
and quality of work must also be outstanding.
  Inattention: Sometimes communication does not reach due to the
inattention of the receiver. Such inattention may result from
busyness, lack of interest about subject, suffering from disease or
family problem etc.

 Individual Barrier

This refers to viewing what is said from one’s mindset. It may be a result of an individual’s
perceptual and personal discomfort.Even when two persons have experienced the same event,
their mental perception may/may not be identical which acts a barrier.Style, selective perception,
halo effect, poor attention and retention, defensiveness, close mindedness, insufficient filtration
are the individual or psychological barrier.

Individual / Psycho-sociological Barriers:

Individual or Psycho-sociological barriers are the prime barriers in interpersonal
communication. People have different styles of communication. People also have
personal feelings, desires, fears, hopes, likes, dislikes, attitudes, views and opinions. The
meaning assigned to a message depends upon the emotional or psychological status of
both the parties involved in the process of communication.

1. Style: Style, the manner in which a person communicates, involves many elements,

though style overlaps with several of the other factors in analysis, it adds its own distinct
flavor.
2. Selective perception: The receiver may make a world of his own around himself. He
projects his interest and expectations as he decodes messages. He may only take that
much piece of information, which may suit his world of thinking. As a result, the person
acquires incomplete and inappropriate information, which influence the communication
process. Having a poor self-concept or self-understanding, or a poor understanding of
other can cause perceptual distortions.
3. Halo effect: People do not listen carefully because of impressions based on earlier
encounters. Even one of the parties having a halo effect will disrupt the flow of
communication.
4. Status relationship: There may be status and power relationship, which may hinder the
communication process and affect the effectiveness of communication. Status effects
also hinder communication is as much as people occupying higher positions in the
organization have a tendency to “tell a lot to subordinates but not to listen, effective
communication is not possible.
5. Poor attention and Retention: About half of the information, if not properly retained, is
lost. The sender may suffer from each a problem. It also said that about 30% of the
information is lost in each oral transmission. Human memory may not always retain
what it is told. This causes communication breakdown and necessitates the repetition of
the message using several channels
6. Inattention: The preoccupied mind of the receiver and the reluctant non-listening is one
of the major psychologies barriers. It is because of it that people do not react to
ideas/messages received in communication.
7. Undue importance of written words: The undue importance given to the written words
may lead to loss of information. The successive information is not accurate and right.
Written communication often tells what is to be done but not why it should be done. It
takes the persuasive quality.
8. Defensiveness: If one feels threatened by a message, one becomes defensive and
responds in such ways that reduce the understanding. Such defensive behaviour
prevents understanding.
9. Closed Mind: Limited intellectual background, limited reading and narrow interests can
cause a person’s mind to be narrow. This limits the ability to take in new ideas. People
with closed minds do not take in any new information or suggestions to change.
10. State of Health: Physical condition can affect the efficiency in all communication skills.
In case of the poor health condition, the communicating ability is reduced as the mind is
not alert and perception is low.
11. Filtering: Filtering is the process of reducing the details or aspects of a message. Each
person who receives the message reduces it according to his or her understanding of
the situation. In this process, much of the important information may be lost or
misinterpreted and the sender will fail to convey what he wants to convey.