Psychological Barriers:

Psychological barriers are the prime barriers in inter-personal communication. The meaning which is ascribed to a message depends upon the emotional or psychological status of both the parties concerned. As such, the psychological barriers might be set up either through the receiver or the sender of the message.

You have already seen in which the effectiveness of any communication depends upon the perception of the right meaning of the message by the receiver. Therefore, the perception of meaning is influenced through the mental frame of the receiver at the time the message is received. Emotions that dominate our mood at the time, e.g., anger, fear, happiness, anxiety, etc., will affect our interpretation of the message. The phrases 'viewing with colored glasses' or 'seeing along with jaundiced eyes' explain vividly how our inner feelings may vitiate our perception of the message or the situation. Post experience of the receiver in such situations would also lead to the same effect. The similar thing might be happen while different individuals interpret the similar event or situation. Let us consider the case of a supervisor watching a group of employees resting and gossiping on the lawns. How will this situation be perceived?

To the supervisor, who believes in which employees are basically lazy, the situation communicates which they are playing truant with their work, and, thus, should be given more work to do and disciplined.