One of the basic needs in people’s lives is to establish relationships. The most important factor affecting relationships is communication. Let’s take a look at communication and communication barriers that have the most impact on our relationships.
There are many definitions of communication. Some of them are as follows;
Communication is the reciprocal exchange of thought.
Communication is a human process through which we make the world meaningful and share this meaning with others.
Communication is the process of sharing some meanings with each other by mutual communication of symbolic messages that play a role in social interactions since people started living in groups.
Communication is a psycho-social process that brings two people into a relationship.
When all these definitions are examined, it is seen that there are at least two people in communication; communication is mutual; It can be said that communication is a process and communication is a sharing of knowledge, emotion, thought and life.
In this article, we will give advice, judge, ask questions, diagnose, console, focus on oneself and make fun of communication barriers that we frequently do or encounter in our daily life.
- Giving advice, providing solutions, guiding: It consists of the listener’s reactions based on giving advice and producing solutions in the communication process, such as “do this, do this”, “you should act like this”, “you better act now instead of being upset about this”.
- Judging, criticizing, naming: These are the listener’s judgmental reactions in the communication process, such as “you always take it easy”, “you act like a baby”.
- Asking questions, researching, examining: In the communication process of the listener, “why?”, “what did you do to him?”, “what did he say to you?”, “which of you said first?” such as questioning responses.
- Diagnosing, diagnosing, analyzing: It is the listener’s reaction to diagnosing the situation, such as “you don’t really want to say that…”, “I actually know why you’re doing that”, “actually, your problem is different” during the communication process.
- Soothing, comforting, changing the subject: These are the listener’s responses to comfort the person in the communication process, such as “don’t mind it”, “it’ll be okay, don’t worry about it”, “it’s okay”, “don’t worry”, “let’s talk about something else”.
- Focusing on oneself: It is the listener’s reaction in this context by focusing on their own experiences, not the person in front of them and their experiences during the communication process. It is as in the example below.
A: Mom, I feel tired now. It became very difficult to run the school and the private teaching institution together.
B: Don’t ask, my dear, I was also very upset until the evening. You wouldn’t mind if I told you what I’m dealing with.
- Joking, mocking: It is the listener’s making fun of the other person and their experiences during the communication process and making jokes. It is as in the example below.
A: Mom, I feel tired now. It became very difficult to run the school and the private teaching institution together.
B: If it is too hard to walk, then run, my child.
These errors reduce the quality of the communication process. Of course, it should not be ignored that these answers vary according to the context of the communication. In this interactive process, the individual’s ineffective listening to the other person, not focusing on the other person and not trying to understand him can be defined as a communication barrier.
The most important thing is to be aware of these errors and to reduce their number over time.
