How can anger be a barrier to listening?

• A. It speeds decision making
• B. It clarifies priorities
• C. It improves memory
• D. It shuts down receiving messages and reduces flexibility

Answer: (D)

Anger as a barrier to listening arises because strong negative emotion uses up mental resources and changes how you process information. When you’re angry, your brain shifts toward a fight-or-flight state, narrowing attention to the source of irritation or to protecting yourself. This makes you less able to receive and accurately interpret what the other person is saying, because working memory and auditory processing are taxed and you’re more focused on your own reaction than on the speaker’s message. Anger also tends to trigger defensiveness and a rigid stance, so you’re less flexible in considering new information or alternative viewpoints. In short, anger shuts down receiving messages and reduces your ability to adapt to what is being communicated.

The other options don’t fit because anger does not typically speed up decision making, clarify priorities, or improve memory. It usually hinders processing, can distort what you think you heard, and impairs encoding and recall rather than enhancing them.