10 psychological barriers to communication, their causes and ways to overcome them

A psychological barrier is a special mental state in which an individual cannot carry out certain actions. Such conditions occur due to inappropriately acute negative psychological experiences regarding current problems or specific situations. Subjectively, psychological barriers are experienced by a person as insurmountable difficulties in establishing relationships and communication connections and are accompanied by self-dissatisfaction, self-rejection, low self-esteem, and a low level of aspirations.

The presence of such characteristics leads to intrapersonal psychological conflicts, fear, guilt, anxiety, various complexes, in particular an inferiority complex.

Types of psychological barriers: communication barriers, individual psychological and socio-psychological personality barriers.

In communication, psychological barriers of communication and semantic barriers of personality are distinguished. Psychological barriers to communication are directly related to the difficulties a person encounters when organizing his communicative interaction.

A semantic psychological barrier occurs due to mutual misunderstanding between people who fill one event with different meanings. In every area of ​​human interaction there is the possibility of psychological semantic barriers arising. We can highlight those relationships in which they most often arise - this is a semantic psychological barrier in the relationship between children and parents, wife and husband, manager and subordinate.

Individual psychological barriers of a person are manifested in his lack of self-confidence, excessive shyness, tightness, fears, and anxiety.

Overcoming psychological barriers occurs with the help of a psychologist, special training or self-development.

Social and psychological barriers of an individual are a special condition that depends on the psychological characteristics of the individual himself, but to a greater extent on the specific situation of his life. Thus, a person’s bad mood, caused by a negative set of circumstances, can become a psychological barrier that deforms a person’s attention and understanding in a certain situation of communication with a partner.

Negative Attitude Barrier, or Prejudicial Attitude

Imagine: you are about to communicate with a person about whom you have only heard bad reviews. You go into a meeting with a negative attitude and a prejudiced attitude. This is the communication barrier. How does it show up at a meeting:

• instead of a smile and a positive greeting, you frown and greet in a stern voice;
• you take every word a person says with hostility;
• looking for a catch in everything.

But, perhaps, those people from whom you heard bad things were themselves to blame for the fact that communication did not work out, and in front of you is a completely adequate person. But the installation has done its job - your communication with him is also not going well. For example: the interlocutor is used to deciding everything quickly and only to the point, and you, under the influence of an attitude, take his direct statements as rudeness and already accuse him of this.

What to do: rely only on your idea of ​​people. If you are not yet familiar, then adhere to the belief: “All people are good. And if this is not so, then let a specific person himself convince me otherwise.” God himself bequeathed this: “The commandment that He left us says this: he who loves God must also love his brother” (RBO, I John 4:21). By brother here we mean any person - close or unfamiliar.

Definition and classification

A psychological barrier is a specific state of a person that prevents the implementation of his plans and prevents him from taking an active position in life. Every individual sooner or later encounters such barriers without even realizing it, since they arise on a subconscious level.

There are these types of psychological barriers.

1. "Barrier of Opposites" It occurs in the case of contact between individuals who have contrasting temperaments, for example, communication between a choleric person and a melancholic person, an optimist with a pessimist, and this can also include the interaction between a boss and a subordinate. In all these pairs, there is a contrast in the tempo of speech and gestures; different social statuses are possible, leading to opposing views on life.
2. "First impression". This barrier is the internal fear of an individual who is unsure of himself, who worries that he will not be able to make the right impression with the necessary acquaintance.
3. "Moral barrier". A situation where an individual who does not tolerate rudeness, rude attitude, or deceit creates a protective barrier based on his moral principles. In essence, the individual protects himself from communicating with people who are unpleasant to him.
4. "Personal barrier" It is possible, for example, when during communication between two interlocutors a conflict situation arises due to different views on life. Each interlocutor remains with his own opinion. In such a situation, a personal barrier can be built between people, which often turns out to be difficult to overcome or even leads to a complete end to communication.
5. "Individual barrier". Is a character trait. A similar appearance can be observed in people with increased shyness and anxiety. This condition prevents self-realization. If you do not fight it, then over time it will affect the formation of stable personality traits, such as distrust, suspiciousness and wariness.

Communication barriers include the following types:

• semantic, which arises when two people have different perceptions of the same concept;
• logical, noted in the case of an individual’s inability to clearly and distinctly voice his thoughts (there may be jumping from one topic to another, inconsistent presentation of information);
• phonetic, which occurs when the individual conducting the dialogue has poorly delivered speech.

The emergence of psychological barriers is also possible in intimate life. In this case, a person may experience the following symptoms:

• feigned sexuality;
• stiffness of movements, fear of making sounds or moving during intimacy;
• lack of excitement;
• loss of sensation;
• tension;
• detachment.

A variant of the norm is considered to be a situation when a person, in very rare cases, encounters difficulties in voicing his desires, he has problems defending his point of view, he is unable to step over himself. However, if such difficulties are observed on an ongoing basis, then there is a serious problem. A person experiencing psychological barriers is in a state of stress, he is limited in his actions, constrained in his reasoning.

Barrier of stereotypes

It is similar to the psychological barrier of a negative attitude, but in this case the prejudiced attitude is formed not by reviews, but by stereotypes or secondary associations. Example: you communicate with a person and find out that he works for an organization about which you have only heard bad reviews. Your attitude towards this person immediately becomes negative.

Examples of other popular stereotypes:

• “Driving a car is not a woman’s job.”
• “All Germans are enemies, our grandfathers fought with them.”
• “Estonians are very slow.”
• “You can’t make money on the Internet. And those who say they have made money are charlatans.”
• "All athletes are stupid."
• “You can’t earn a lot of money honestly,” etc.

All these are erroneous beliefs that not only interfere with communication and hinder personal development, but also incite wars and conflicts.

What to do: Develop flexible thinking. Don’t repeat after someone, but gain your own experience - this will help overcome the barrier in communication. Destroy stereotypes by communicating with different people, observing them and drawing your own conclusions. For example, at the online marathon “I’m rich, happy and making money online,” we teach you how to earn money honestly on the Internet. It's possible. If you accept this, you will get rid of psychological barriers in communicating with those who also know how to make money online and are ready to share their proven methods. And as long as you think in stereotypes, you won’t even listen to it. And it takes you away from your dream life.

What is a psychological barrier

A psychological barrier is a person’s condition that prevents him from performing desired actions and becomes an obstacle to the manifestation of his personality qualities.

For example, even if he wants to, he cannot talk freely in the company of a new person, limiting himself to a short “yes-no.” At the same time, among old acquaintances he is usually open and relaxed.

If a psychological barrier leads to negative experiences, then it is worth thinking about the reasons for their occurrence. This will help you figure out how to overcome this condition.

Barrier of psychological defense

“I don’t understand why I answered so rudely,” “I wanted to say a lot, but then it was like I swallowed my tongue”—familiar expressions? It's good if not. Some people in communication adhere to the principles “The best defense is an attack” or “Pretend that you are not there.” They are rude or silent to protect themselves. Behind this are hidden internal problems: uncertainty, complexes, fears. Common fears include:

• “What if I get rejected?”
• “What if I’m misunderstood?”
• “I will definitely be criticized.”
• “They will laugh at me” and the like.

Some people are fundamentally afraid of social contacts. They can't even accurately articulate their fear. And this also becomes a barrier in communication between people.

What to do: observe yourself and track the thoughts that appear before inappropriate reactions in communication. It is important to understand what internal problem is bothering you and work through it.

Character barrier

Every person is unique. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, features. All this, of course, affects communication. If you have pointed, pronounced individual character traits, such as theatricality in behavior and speech, then this can become a barrier between you and other people. Not everyone likes to communicate with someone who always “plays to the crowd.” And there are also characteristics of temperament that also become psychological barriers, for example, the hot temper of a melancholic person or the thoughtfulness and emotionlessness of a phlegmatic person.

What to do: understand yourself, accept all your characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Think about which of them interfere with communication, and how this can be corrected. Within the framework of this article, it is impossible to give a universal algorithm - you need to develop an individual plan. If you want to develop your best sides, then sign up for the course “How to Identify Your Talents and Personal Strengths.” With its help, you will get to know yourself and understand how to manage your characteristics.

Causes of psychological barriers

People are so self-obsessed that they think they and their problems are unique. Meanwhile, more than 30% of them regularly experience problems in communication, and, therefore, face psychological barriers. Most often this is expressed in anxiety, discomfort and unreasonable fear:

• fear of being misunderstood;
• anxiety that it will not be possible to do something new, in which there is no practical experience;
• stress caused by unfamiliar surroundings and people;
• anxiety and uncertainty when communicating with strangers.

These signs will be found in people who have low self-esteem, internal disharmony, a severe closed character, immaturity and worries about the unknown of the future.

When communicating with other people, they perceive and transmit information through the prism of their own experience. This is what causes psychological barriers to arise.

Barrier to selective hearing

“You only hear what you want to hear,” one person accuses another. And perhaps he is right if the interlocutor has a selective listening barrier. People tend to seek confirmation of what they say or refutation of what they cannot accept. Some people refuse to accept any new information. Others are ready to accept some things, but not others. For example, they do not know how to admit their mistakes and therefore ignore any information indicating them. In any case, this is another protective mechanism of the psyche. This is how the brain tries to keep a person in his comfort zone, to maintain his sense of security and self-confidence.

What to do: Be open to new experiences. Behind psychological inflexibility there are often fears and complexes. For example, as we have already said, the inability to admit one’s mistakes and the fear of making mistakes. Determine what limits your perception. Why are you not ready to hear different opinions and perceive the world holistically? This is what we need to work with.

Communication barriers

Communication barriers arise if there is a mismatch in vocabulary between interlocutors. This group also includes problems associated with the lack of analogies of concepts in different languages ​​and other translation difficulties. Main types of communication barriers:

1. Semantic
   barriers arise when communication partners mean different things by similar concepts. For example, one person understands the phrase “a good method of achieving a goal” as a method that will not harm the people around him, while another understands it as a strategy to achieve what he wants at any cost, even if those around him suffer.
2. Logical
   barriers - appear if a person does not know how to clearly and consistently express his thoughts. In such a dialogue, cause-and-effect relationships are broken, and concepts are often substituted.
3. Phonetic
   barriers are a speaker's poor speaking technique. When words sound unclear and unclear, which makes it difficult to perceive information.

Barrier of age/status/experience

Some people prefer to see doctors only with extensive experience. If they go to novice specialists, they communicate with them somewhat biasedly and distrustfully. Some may even say directly: “What can this psychologist teach me! I’m 20 years older than him, so I probably understand more in life.” This is an example of a psychological barrier of experience.

Other similar types of communication barriers work similarly:

Barrier type	Example from life
Age barrier	An elderly man says to a young man: “Whatever you understand. You will teach me again! I’m older, which means I’m smarter and wiser.”
Status barrier	One person says to another: “You see, I only need useful connections. I only communicate with high-status people. And even though you say that you’re successful, you can’t tell by looking at you – your car is kind of simple, your clothes are also modest.”
Marital status barrier	One person says to another: “You give advice to everyone about your personal life, but you yourself are still lonely. I’m sorry, but I won’t listen to you.”

But in reality, status, age, experience or anything else doesn’t mean that much and says almost nothing about a person. The younger generation can teach the older generation something new, useful and interesting. If a person lives modestly, but at the same time offers courses on making money, this does not mean that his courses are useless. Perhaps material wealth is not of such value to him; he does charity work and invests in his spiritual development.

What to do: try to evaluate yourself and others less, be unbiased, and work with facts. For example, everyday psychology and scientific psychology are different things. Yes, a psychologist’s client may be wiser from the point of view of everyday philosophy, but the psychologist knows all the intricacies of psychology from the point of view of science. It is important to remember this in all such controversial issues. And remember that someone can judge you the same way. Therefore, rely on the wisdom of Spiritual Economy: “Judge not, lest you be judged. Just as you judge others, you will also be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (NRT Matt. 7:1-2).

Barrier to substitution of facts and feelings

Sometimes in communication people react not to the facts and words of their opponent, but to the feelings that these words aroused. For example, one person made an appropriate remark to another, but he does not know how to accept criticism, so he instantly became offended and angry (this reminded him of how his mother often criticized him as a child). Objective criticism is a neutral fact. But the man succumbed to his feelings and answers his interlocutor: “If you don’t like it, do it yourself.” The conversation is over, cooperation has reached a dead end. And if a person responded not to feelings, but to the words of the interlocutor, then it would look like this: “Yes, a fair point. Thanks for noticing. Please tell me how to fix this."

What to do: develop the skill of managing emotions. Learn to manage your feelings and separate them from the essence. Do a psychological exercise right now: remember a recent situation in which you responded to feelings rather than facts, and figure it out. Get to the facts and answer them for yourself. Repeat this exercise every day.

Barrier of emotional state

Think about how you communicate when you feel unwell physically or mentally. For example, when sick or mentally tired, many people become irritable. Some, in a state of anger or grief, lash out at the first person who comes to hand. People in a state of shame or guilt tend to agree with the interlocutor, suppress themselves and give in. And it happens that a person simply got off on the wrong foot and, due to a bad mood, is rude to others or does not make contact. These are all examples of an emotional state barrier. That is, something or someone unsettled a person, and this is reflected in communication.

What to do: Try not to engage in important discussions when you are in a vulnerable state. If a conversation cannot be avoided, then warn the other person that you are not feeling well. And ask not to take possible inappropriate reactions personally. But don't use this as an excuse. Work on yourself. If you understand that you cannot maintain composure, then say: “Let's reschedule the conversation? I don’t have the strength for this now.” And, of course, it is important to process negative states in a timely manner, to express emotions, and not to suppress and accumulate them.

If you are now in a vulnerable state, then master the practice of the “Bird” resource state. You will learn to relax and restore strength in 15 minutes.

Ways to overcome psychological barriers

If you understand that you have symptoms of psychological barriers and they interfere with establishing contacts with your interlocutor, then you need to work on yourself. If you ignore this problem, then soon other manifestations will be added to: lack of initiative, willingness to give in in everything, inability to express and defend one’s opinion.

To overcome psychological barriers, you need to work on the following aspects.

1. Learn to listen to yourself and identify your feelings. At a moment when something is confusing, it is worth slowing down and asking yourself the question: “How am I feeling now?” Then further communication will become a little easier.
2. Try active therapy: individual or group trainings. With a specialist who is able to objectively assess the situation from the outside, it will be much easier to find and eliminate the root cause of psychological pressures. The main types of therapy include: dancing, rhythmic motor gymnastics, art classes, bodily therapy, practicing practical communication skills (asking for directions, taking a turn, calling customer support, etc.)
3. Practice universal phrases that can be used to eliminate an awkward pause in a conversation. It’s good if they are not closely related to a specific topic.
4. Train yourself to ask questions to your interlocutor. By doing this, you will not only support the conversation, but also show your interest in the conversation, and also learn more information about the subject of the conversation. It’s good if these are open questions that require a detailed answer, and not a dry “yes-no”.
5. Engage in self-development and broadening your horizons. This way you will raise your self-esteem and learn a lot of new things to start a conversation about. For example, you can subscribe to interesting personalities, public pages and channels on social networks. This will help you obtain new information spontaneously, rather than by searching for it on special resources.

Barrier of contempt/disgust/disgust

Reason for occurrence: the person is unpleasant in appearance. For example, some people talk arrogantly and with disgust to those who, in their opinion, look unkempt. Some people despise people with tattoos. Someone is capable of insulting a disabled person, etc. The essence of the psychological barrier is that a person judges by appearance and does not even have time to discern the content of the interlocutor.

Why is this happening:

• Some people, in principle, cannot accept the characteristics of others, because they do not accept something in themselves;
• others are biased towards a specific feature, for example, they despise alcoholics - they do not see them as sick, but as weak and lazy people, and instead of showing understanding and support, they criticize, blame, and insult.

This attitude towards someone or something is associated with personal beliefs and worldview. And sometimes with personal problems. For example, a negative attitude towards alcohol may be associated with childhood memories of an alcoholic father and resentment towards him.

What to do: determine what specifically you do not accept and despise. Think: maybe this is in you or someone close to you, but you transfer it to other people. Or maybe your parents instilled in you the wrong idea, for example, that all homeless people are bad people. Or fear is hidden behind disgust. For example, some people who are afraid of gaining weight have negative attitudes towards fat people. And also do not forget that all this comes down to the assessment of others and their condemnation. But can people judge someone, much less condemn them? No. Let us remember the words from Spiritual Economics: “Judge not, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned” (RBV, Luke 6:37). This means being kinder not only to others, but also to yourself.

How to eliminate the psychological barrier in communication

If you feel tension in a conversation with your interlocutor, then you can try to eliminate this psychological barrier in universal ways.

Communicate in a similar language

Use in conversation those phrases and expressions that are familiar to your interlocutor. Try to “mirror” his speech: repeat the tempo, intonation, construction of phrases (but this should not look forced).

Listen to the other person

Learn to listen to other people, don't interrupt them. This will not only show respect for them, but will also help you establish a deeper emotional connection.

Maintain chain of command

In a conversation, you should not put yourself above your interlocutors or, conversely, humiliate yourself in front of them. This behavior will only make you think about unpleasant thoughts that are not worth wasting your time and energy on.

Learn to find compromises

Having a clear position and strong moral principles is wonderful. But if you mindlessly insist on your own and do not agree to make concessions in order to competently resolve issues and disagreements, then you can give the impression of an infantile or absurd person. It is unlikely that anyone is drawn to communicate with such people.

Be positive

A positive attitude makes it easier to cope with any troubles and overcome psychological barriers. And an appropriate joke in a conversation can radically turn it in your favor. A person who knows how to treat everything with humor gives the impression of an intellectually developed person prone to introspection.

Minimize contact with unpleasant people

If possible, it is better to end the conversation with an irritated or aggressive person as quickly as possible. Being in this state, he is not ready for constructive dialogue.

Motivation barrier

Let's look at an example from life. One person pursues only personal goals and is interested in personal gain, while the other wants to efficiently complete a work task and advance the project itself. At some point, the first interlocutor says to the second: “Honestly, I don’t care what happens to this office. Tell me this: is my part of the job finished?” And every time he communicates, he emphasizes this.

What to do: Be frank and immediately communicate your true intentions. Avoid understatement, do not think in the spirit: “I could have guessed.” The motivation barrier is one of the few that is better to bypass rather than remove. If you and someone have different motivations, then you are simply not on the same path.

The peculiarity of psychological barriers to communication is that many people do not notice them. The first and main step in the fight against them is awareness of the problem. If people around you are increasingly saying that it is difficult to communicate with you, or you notice that they are communicating with you less, then this is a reason to think about it. If you can't build a personal life or advance your career, then perhaps it's a matter of barriers. It doesn’t happen that everyone and everything around is bad and a person is perfect. If life is not going well, then you need to look inside yourself. And if there is a problem, then you need to work on it. And if it’s hard for you to do this on your own, then sign up for the course “Your own psychologist 2.0. Diagnosis of life using the method of people from the Forbes top 100.” With its help, you will understand yourself, find and eliminate negative attitudes and barriers, set priorities in life and understand where to move. As a result of this, you will become a successful and happy person.

Psychological barriers in communication are situations, words, phrases that lead to misunderstandings, misunderstandings, quarrels, and conflicts.

Competence barrier.

Interlocutors may interpret the same message differently depending on their level of competence and prior experience, which leads to variations in the processes of encoding and decoding information. This factor is very significant; it undermines community in communication; communication has a tendency to destruction. It becomes effective only when the interlocutors are united by a common field of experience, a common space, otherwise one of the communication participants encodes the message based on his vision, and the recipient decodes it only on the basis of his experience. Consequently, you can speak the same language with your partner and still not understand it (“Listen, say it in Russian!”). In this situation, the message conflicts with the way the recipient "decodes" it, and communication becomes impossible or distorted.

Distortions arise due to different levels of competence of interlocutors, which, in turn, can create a completely different level of competence in the field of activity (for example, the status of a professor and an ordinary teacher). As a result, people develop different values, needs and attitudes, which can lead to unintentional distortion of the information received. Inconsistency between encoding and decoding is a common barrier to effective communication.

Selective hearing.

In this form of selective perception, a person tends to block new information, especially if it contradicts existing judgments. Thus, in information about the dangers of smoking, its recipient (a smoking person) notices only what confirms his judgment (“Everyone smokes and nothing”). A message that contradicts pre-existing beliefs is either ignored or distorted to suit one's own beliefs. In other words, if we hear only what we want to hear, then our reality will not be disturbed.

Value judgments.

In every communication situation, the interlocutor expresses value judgments. In principle, this means judging the overall value of a message before receiving the communication as a whole. For example, a close-knit group may form negative value judgments regarding all actions of the curator. Value judgments are based on the recipient's assessment of the sender based on previous experience with him or on an assessment of the expected meaning of the message.

Intragroup language.

Each of us, at different times, has encountered distinctly specialized jargon, which, as it later turned out, denotes simple procedures and familiar things. For example, a researcher might ask students to “prepare an instrument as part of an experimental approach”—the student soon learns that he was only asked to complete a written questionnaire.

Labor, professional social groups often create jargon that is understandable only to members of these groups. Such specific language can perform positive functions. It creates a sense of belonging, cohesion and (in many cases) self-affirmation among group members and facilitates effective communication within the group.

Time pressure.

Time pressure can also be a major communication barrier. For example, due to a lack of time, someone is not given a previously promised word, and he may react inappropriately to this situation (for example, become offended).

Communication overload.

Our time is often called the “information” era or the “age of information.” People cannot respond to all messages addressed to them in a timely manner, so they "weed them out" and, consequently, some of the messages are never read.

Installation barrier.

The interlocutor may have a negative attitude towards the organization of which you are a representative, or towards you personally. If there is hostility on the part of the interlocutor, you should treat it as a manifestation of ignorance, weakness, lack of culture, simple ignorance. Then your partner’s unfair attitude or inappropriate behavior will not affect you, and soon it will disappear altogether, since your deeds and actions will force your partner to change his mind.

Barrier of psychological defense.

The built-up psychological defense is one of the serious barriers to communication. Perhaps your indifferent, unfriendly, taciturn or aggressive, agitated, tense interlocutor needs understanding, to be listened to and understood. Having realized that the barrier in communicating with an inconvenient partner is caused by his desire to defend himself, try to change your attitude towards him, and the difficulties in communicating with such a person will disappear.

Temperament barrier.

Each person has his own temperament, but well-mannered, self-controlled people know how to behave in such a way that their temperament is not a source of conflict or discomfort. Not everyone, however, wants and knows how to understand themselves and control themselves. People with pronounced temperamental characteristics are often uncomfortable interlocutors.

A sanguine person is balanced, mobile, and a good mood prevails. He gets along with people quickly, is cheerful, easily switches from one thing to another, and does not like monotonous routine work. A sanguine person quickly develops feelings of joy or grief, affection or hostility, but these feelings are shallow.

Phlegmatic - slow, balanced. As a rule, he always finishes what he starts. Self-possessed, calm, cool-headed, it is difficult to anger him. Sustainable interests and aspirations. Phlegmatic people have the ability to do work that requires long-term concentration and perseverance.

Choleric is a person who is impetuous, impulsive, fast, active, and excitable. He has fast, loud speech, expressive facial expressions, and sudden movements. Choleric people are prone to violent emotional outbursts and sudden changes in mood. In communicating with other people, choleric people are harsh and often provoke conflict situations.

Melancholic - his emotions and feelings are distinguished by great depth, strength and duration. Sensitive and vulnerable. It is difficult to experience grievances and disappointments, although outwardly this may be weakly manifested. Melancholic people avoid new people and feel awkward in new surroundings. They are characterized by depth and constancy, subtlety of perception.

Rumors, gossip.

S.I. Ozhegov’s dictionary defines gossip as “a rumor about someone or something based on inaccurate or deliberately incorrect information.”

Gossip is an unkind or defamatory rumor about someone, spread on the basis of obviously false, inaccurate and fabricated information.

Rumors are special, usually unreliable information (and/or a distorting form of transmission of any information, giving it some peculiarity), transmitted exclusively orally, as if “in secret,” and functioning exclusively in audio form.

Hearing is one of the types of information dissemination.

Rumors are an inevitable process, since the information that people share with each other undergoes strong distortions during the transmission process. This happens against the will of the participants in the dialogue and is associated with the peculiarities of memory: when listening to information once, we remember 10-20% of the total volume, and lose the rest. When we retell interesting information to our interlocutor, we want to tell everything as it was, but 80% of the information is lost, and we are not aware of it. When telling the details of a story, we invent details, fantasize based on our ideas about how it could actually be. We sincerely believe in what we say. The danger of rumors is that the information contained in them is radically different from what actually happened, and relationships, friendships, and good acquaintances can collapse once and for all.