Obstacles to Social Interaction: The Case of Hearing Impairment

Two ways of characterising social interaction, and obstacles to such interaction, are described. One is based on recognisable features of everyday encounter; one is derived from a purely perceptual framework. Recognisable obstacles to social interaction include rudeness and lack of mutual interest; perceptual obstacles include physical barriers of various kinds. The contrast between these "psychosocial" and "perceptual" approaches is applied to the case of hearing impairment, the point being that a perceptual understanding of hearing loss must be complemented with a psychosocial one. From a psychosocial perspective, the obstacles created by hearing loss may be interpreted by others in recognisable, social terms. There are substantial mismatches between the person's own rating of their problems and ratings by other family members. While hearing aids can ameliorate some of the problems of hearing impairment, an issue that calls for attention by psychologists is the need for a fuller understanding of the social dynamics at work.