Interpersonal Communication: Barriers, Conflict, And Different Types Of Essay.

Definition of Interpersonal Communication

1. From the definition of interpersonal communication, this system of communication refers to the whole practice of exchanging of information, thoughts, ideas, concepts, feelings and, experiences from one end to the other end in an effective way is known as interpersonal communication. There are ample of reasons for the failure of interpersonal communication, refers to as the barrier to the process. Many a times, it may happen that the delivered message may not be the exactly the same as the sender wanted to convey. Therefore, it is important that the sender demands for a feedback to the message in order to check if it is clearly delivered or not by the receiver on the other end, as said by Kapur, (2018). On the other hand, to avoid the barriers in the communication process, some skills like clarification, concentrated listening, active generation of feedback as well as reflection may be developed by both the sender and the receiver. These may emphasize to the effective transformation of the message intended to the receiver and also the generated feedback message by the receiver as well.

Barriers to the interpersonal communication may take place at any phase of the process of the communication, which may lead to the distortion of the intended message, information or idea (Buarqoub, 2019). Few of the barriers are as follows-

• Language barrier- Linguistic inability acts as oneof the barriers to the communication. When a person from another community, state or country belonging to a particular linguistic background tries and communicates to a person speaking in a different language in order to transfer a message, information, or idea, distortion or misinterpretation of the message may occur.
• Psychological barrier- The state of psychological stage of the sender influences the intended message, information or ideas sent, received, analysed or observed by the both end of the communication process. As an example, when the sender is tired, sick or stressed out, angry, or under the hold of personal concern and so as the receiver, the intended message can be distorted.
• Attitudinal barrier- It influences the intended message in terms of behaviour, perception, or belief that surfaces prevention to communicate effectively. It may result in the form of personal conflicts, poor managerial system, resistant to change or from lack of motivation (Muhammadkulova and Petrosyan, 2019).

To overcome the barriers to interpersonal communication is to practice the art of active listening. This is one of the most important ways that can help in effective communication process and avoid any distortion. Also, to use simpler language to initiate the process of communicating whenever needed also helps in avoiding difficulty in decoding the message. Lastly, sending a feedback by the receiver’s end whether the message has been successfully and decoded or not is another important ways to over the barriers to communication (Fandrejewska and Wasilik, 2018).

For example, in childhood, when I went for a vacation to a suburban area in South Africa, I faced the linguistic barrier to communicate with the local people there. This is because they communicated with their regional tribal language which I was unaware of.

2. As per Rodriguez et al., (2020), interpersonal conflicts are problems which takes place between people involved in the interpersonal communication. It may be also called internal conflicts between two or more people in other terms. It can take place due to any kind of differences of opinion, expression, thoughts, or ideas that other person on the other end may not agree to. Even though it is not always a bad motive whenever a conflict arises between two or more persons involved in an interpersonal communication because with each conflict, many doubts, misunderstandings, and issues can be cleared out face to face (He et al., 2019). Few of the reasons why conflicts take place between two or more people in the interpersonal communication are as follows-

• Poor communication skills- Every communication process depends on how much effectively a sender communicates the message and in the same way, how well a receiver decodes the intended message in the most effective way so that no distortion of the message takes place. But whenever this process is interrupted by any external stimuli such as language barrier, lack of experiences, and cultural differences- poor communication arises, thus, conflicts may take place.
• Misunderstanding- People involved in the interpersonal communication process might not always regard to the same mindset, experiences, and expectations as well. Many a times, it may occur that the sender tries to explain the importance of a message or information and expects the receiver to understand and acknowledge the message with the same intensity of importance.
• Personal differences- This may arise from ego conflicts. Ego is something that, if not resolved at the correct time, may ruin any kind of relationship. It requires understanding, showing respect to each other’s values, experiences, feelings, expectations, cultural background, and traditions. Egoistic behaviour may take hold of someone’s mind whenever he or she does not recognise to any of the above mentioned criteria. Thus, not valuing and not addressing to the message of the other person may lead to the arrival of some serious kind of conflicts (DeVito, 2019).

Some of the conflict resolution strategies are as follows-

• Withdrawal- It is important for everyone to understand when to stop in between a conflict in order for it to not grow into a bigger one, by refusing to address the issue at that very moment.
• Accommodation- It refers to considering the other person’s need at the first place; it creates a sense of positivity between the two people. It also may occur that resolving the conflict by talking and sorting things out.
• Compromise- With compromise to resolve the problems, people involved in the communication process get some grounds where at least some of the requirements are fulfilled. Compromising can lead to the strengthening of a relationship as well (Safianov et al., 2021).

For example, as I mentioned earlier, at the time of my tour to South African villages, I had a hard time in understanding the language they spoke, which compelled for a small conflict between us though we quickly resolved it with understanding each other’s point of view.

Barriers to Interpersonal Communication

3. The statement ‘not to communicate is to communicate’ means it is not always necessary for a communicator to use the verbal communication in order to transfer a message, thoughts, ideas or concept to the targeted receiver for that matter. Such forms of communication can be termed as non verbal communication, which is referred to as the form of communication process without the use of actual speaking to the other targeted receiving end as per Vrij, Hartwig and Granhag, (2019). Silence is one of the most effective forms of nonverbal communications. Being silent in the process of communication is also a strong form of feedback put forward to the sender in the loop. It holds more importance the hurled speech of one. The destructive silence forms barriers that may discourage the flow of communication making the speaker unable to express the thoughts, whereas the constructive silence takes the conversation forward. Even though silence in the communication may be considered as embarrassed, awkward, fearful, numb, still it holds much importance in exchanging messages in communication process. Minimal communication refers to the use of languages in a very precise and discrete way yet very much engaging in the form in order to get the information correct. It is a process of briefness of the intended message forwarded to the receiver without using much word but with very much concise form of language is used as per Rainero and Modarelli (2021). An example of just a nod to answer a question of someone can be considered as the form of minimal communication. As per Sattler, (2019), unintentional communication is something that is not intended to the receiver by the sender in the whole communication process. It can be in the form of some chosen words hurled with carelessness, or it may be occur that the receiving end has been misunderstood and the chosen message has been transmitted to a different receiving end, for example, facial expression, body postures and gestures, or calling at the wrong number to send some message. It is considered for everything that has been expressed by the virtue of the presence or absence of the sender at the time of the delivering the message to the targeted receiving end. Power is also considered a form of effective communication because the ones considered as powerful is considered as authority to the ones at the ground level. There is a conception that the people with power can get away with every misdeed while others cannot. It can be in terms of manpower, money or politics (Bisconti, 2021).

For example, as I mentioned earlier about my trip to South African village and the problems I faced in understanding their language, so my silence made them realise my incompetence. My silence communicated them with my inability. Hence, a person was called who could speak English to talk to me about my need for finding a hotel nearby. When I reached to the hotel by accompanying the person who could translate to me, I only nodded to the questions I was being asked. This communication can be considered as the example of minimal communication. 

References

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Buarqoub, I. A. S. (2019). Language barriers to effective communication. Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana, 24(6), 64-77. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/279/27962177008/27962177008.pdf

DeVito, J. A. (2019). The interpersonal communication book. Instructor, 1, 18.

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