Interpersonal communication refers to the communication between people.
People generally exchange their thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, feelings etc. among them through this communication mainly in the form of face-to-face conversation.
But it is often observed that a number of reasons hinder interpersonal communication in the organization.
So in order to make effective interpersonal communication, hindering factors are to be detected and then removed.
For detecting these hindering factors, an interpersonal communication model is presented below
From the above model, we can derive the following assumptions on interpersonal communication
- An interpersonal motive is always inherent in the mind of the sender of any interpersonal communication process. This motive may not always be expressed; it may remain in the subconscious mind of the sender.
- Many receivers can guess the inherent interpersonal motives of sender consciously or unconsciously. This supposition of the receiver is known as interpersonal perception.
- This interpersonal perception of receiver creates reaction or sentiment in the mind of the receiver.
- Receiver’s sentiment again influences his interpersonal communication motives.
It is essential to indicate here that for establishing effective communication, both the sender and receiver should be aware of and attentive to their intrapersonal and interpersonal elements.
Now, by examining the interpersonal communication model we can detect the following fields where both intrapersonal and interpersonal communications are hindered;
Unconscious about the motive of communication
If the persons remain unconscious about the motives of their communication, their communication with others will be ineffective.
The problem in encoding motive
When the motives of the senders are not encoded by them correctly, these also create problems in establishing effective communication with others.
Inaccurate interpersonal perception
Inaccurate interpersonal perception of the receiver can also create hindrance in communication. This problem may occur at the time of decoding the message if the receiver holds wrong perception (stereotyping attitude) towards the message.
Non-recognition of emotion
Since emotion is an inborn factor of a human being, it is regarded as an intrapersonal element of communication. If emotions of both the parties are not duly identified during communication, communication will fail.
Interpersonal communication refers to the communication between people. Interpersonal communication can be hindered because of some lacking in communication skills.
