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Difficulty: MediumBarriers to Effective Communication

During an inter-departmental review on drought relief operations, a nodal officer who recently faced reprimand from senior leadership feels vulnerable and defensive. As a result, when field engineers present objective operational challenges, the officer interprets their constructive feedback as a direct personal attack and consequently withholds key resource distribution reports. Which type of barrier to effective communication is primarily illustrated by the nodal officer's reaction?

  1. A psychological barrier driven by emotional defensiveness and perceptual filteringAnswer
  2. B
    An environmental noise barrier resulting from physical channel disruption during the meeting
  3. C
    A paralinguistic barrier caused by mismatched vocal pitch and speech rate during feedback delivery
  4. D
    An aggressive communication barrier intended to establish administrative dominance over subordinates

Answer

A psychological barrier driven by emotional defensiveness and perceptual filtering
The correct answer identifies that the communication breakdown is caused by a psychological barrier. The nodal officer's past reprimand creates an internal state of insecurity, emotional defensiveness, and perceptual filtering, causing constructive feedback to be misinterpreted as personal hostility.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source and nature of the communication breakdown in the scenario.
The breakdown stems from the nodal officer's internal emotional state (defensiveness and fear following a past reprimand) rather than external factors.
Identifying whether the obstacle is internal to the mind/emotions or external in the medium helps classify the barrier.
2
Evaluate how the receiver processes incoming messages.
The officer filters constructive feedback through personal insecurity, viewing objective input as personal criticism.
This phenomenon is known as selective perception or perceptual distortion under psychological stress.
3
Match the behavior to the established taxonomy of communication barriers.
Emotional defensiveness, distrust, and anxiety are core components of psychological barriers.
Psychological barriers arise from the psychological state (emotions, attitudes, biases) of the sender or receiver.

Key Concept

Psychological Barriers to Communication
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Topics

Barriers to Effective Communication

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