Prejudices that are based on a person’s identity, such as race, age, occupation, or appearance, may lead us to assume that we know what they will say, essentially closing down the listening process. We can also operate from a state of denial where we avoid a subject or person altogether so that our views are not challenged. For example, we may claim to be in a hurry and only selectively address the parts of a message that we agree with or that aren’t controversial. We exhibit prejudice in our listening in several ways, some of which are more obvious than others. This type of prejudice is a barrier to effective listening, because when we prejudge a person based on their identity or ideas, we usually stop listening in an active and/or ethical way. When we engage in prejudiced listening, we are usually trying to preserve our ways of thinking and avoid being convinced of something different. Unfortunately, some of our default ways of processing information and perceiving others lead us to rigid ways of thinking. In general, we employ selective attention, which refers to our tendency to pay attention to the messages that benefit us in some way and filter others out. Additionally, we are often challenged when presented with messages that we do not find personally relevant. For example, when our self-consciousness is raised, we may be too busy thinking about how we look, how we’re sitting, or what others think of us to be attentive to an incoming message. Two common barriers to concentration are self-centeredness and lack of motivation (Brownell, 1993). Personal concerns are often the focus of competing thoughts that can take us away from listening and challenge our ability to concentrate on others’ messages. In another situation, all ten televisions may be on different channels. If that one channel is a lecture being given by your professor, then you are exerting about half of your cognitive processing abilities on one message. If you think of your listening mind as a wall of ten televisions, you may notice that in some situations five of the ten televisions are tuned into one channel. Whether you call it multitasking, daydreaming, glazing over, or drifting off, we all cognitively process other things while receiving messages. The generally positive emotional state of being in love can be just as much of a barrier as feeling hatred.Ĭognitive limits and personal concerns can interfere with our ability to listen. Any mood or state of arousal, positive or negative, that is too far above or below our regular baseline creates a barrier to message reception and processing. Psychological noise, or noise stemming from our psychological states including moods and level of arousal, can facilitate or impede listening. Physiological noise is noise stemming from a physical illness or injury.Īnother type of noise that is part of the individual context, psychological noise, bridges physical and cognitive barriers to effective listening. This is considered a physical barrier to effective listening because it emanates from our physical body. Physiological noise linked to the individual context, can also interfere with our ability to process incoming information. Environmental noises such as a whirring air conditioner, barking dogs, or a ringing fire alarm can obviously interfere with listening despite direct lines of sight and well-placed furniture.Ĭognitive and Personal Barriers to Listening Eye contact and physical proximity can still be affected by noise. The ability to effectively see and hear a person increases people’s confidence in their abilities to receive and process information. In general, listening is easier when listeners can make direct eye contact with and are in close physical proximity to a speaker. Some seating arrangements facilitate listening, while others separate people. A room that is too dark can make us sleepy, just as a room that is too warm or cool can raise awareness of our physical discomfort to a point that it is distracting. Image: © Joe Decie/, printed with permission for use in I.C.A.T.)Įnvironmental factors linked to the physical context, such as lighting, temperature, and furniture, affect our ability to listen. \)Įnvironmental and Physical Barriers to Listening
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