Barriers to Listening: An Analysis of Its Importance in Communication

Barriers to Listening: An Analysis of its Importance in Communication

Abstract

This paper explores what listening skills are then presents a published article on the results of a study conducted at a college on student barriers to listening. Many people feel as though they do not need to improve upon their existing listening skills since listening is considered to be an automatic behavior. However, listening is a communication skill used in approximately half of all facets of communicating. A person with effective listening skills can benefit from; increased health benefits, enhanced personal and professional relationships, improved cognition and academic performance. There are many obstacles blocking excellent listening skills. Golen (1990) examines these listening barriers and offers the top listening barriers of college students. These barriers will provide a foundation of awareness so that listening skills can be assessed and improved upon.

Keywords: listening, communication, understanding, evaluating, responding, sensing

Barriers to Listening: An Analysis of its Importance in Communication

There is an Ethiopian Proverb which reads, “The fool speaks and the wise man listens.” Listening is believed to be the most important skill in communication yet many people view listening as something that’s involuntary, so it’s not always placed with the utmost importance. We will review the most common barriers in listening and proven ways to become a more effective listener.

Why Listening is Vital in Communication

Alberts, Nakayama and Martin (2013) explain that Improving one’s listening skills lead to “improved cognition, improved academic performance, enhanced personal relationships, enhanced professional performance and even better health.” (p. 164). By paying attention to the messages it receives, the brain is exercising and learns to retain information, thus increasing memory. A good listener is likely to comprehend the messages which can increase academic or professional performance in completing projects and assignments. When paying attention by listening there is a reduced chance of misunderstanding the messages coming across, thus increasing personal relationships. In a work environment, employers expect employees to listen and understand when given an assignment. In addition, most jobs are largely dependent upon the job interview. An employer is looking for an individual who shows the ability to listen and comprehend messages. Health is improved by listening. It has been found that when people listen, their blood pressure drops. This is because they’re concentrating on something other than themselves. In 2013, Alberts et al. state that listening involves four stages; sending, understanding, evaluating and responding. Sensing is the portion of receiving or hearing a message. Understanding is interpreting the received message. Evaluating the where the message is being comprehended on how you will respond to the message. Finally, responding is how you choose to reply to the message.

Barriers to Listening

There are many factors that can get in the way of being an effective listener, which can surface during any of the four stages. Physical barriers are things like being in a loud environment or having something physically wrong with the body to prevent concentrating on listening, such as being in pain, stressed or exhausted. Physiological barriers can include a hearing disability, a problem that is not always treated because of lack or funds or acknowledgment. Psychological barriers can include preoccupation, such as having a personal agenda or being emotional, and boredom. Emotions can cause defensive listening where the listener blocks the sender of the message and refused to hear what is being said. Preconceived ideas can cause a listener to not hear what is being said because they thing they already know what the message is. Conflicting objectives create a barrier as it can change the listeners understanding of a message based on what they perceive is the objective of the conversation. It can be fairly easy to distinguish a person with poor listening habits. Alberts et al. list the five most common poor listening habits as: wandering, rejecting, judging, predicting and rehearsing. (2013). When a listener is thinking about other things other than what the speaker is saying, this is wandering. Rejecting is when the listener basically shuts down and refuses to listen to the speaker because of dislike of the speaker. Judging is when the listener assumes they know what the speaker is saying before it’s said. Predicting is when the listener talks over the speaker to finish sentences. Rehearsing is when the listener is thinking about how they’ll respond before the speaker is done speaking.