Which one of the following is a receiver’s weakness type of barrier to communication?

The correct answer is D (Prejudice). Barriers to communication are usually grouped into sender-side, receiver-side and environmental (channel or situational) barriers. Prejudice sits on the receiver's side because it colours how the listener interprets the message, whatever the sender actually says. A listener who has already decided the speaker is unreliable will filter, distort or reject the content. Other receiver weaknesses include poor listening, selective attention, emotional state and inability to decode technical terms.

Why the others fail:

• Ambiguity is a message-level defect created by the sender, who uses words with more than one meaning.
• Jargon is also a sender-side barrier: specialised vocabulary used without considering the audience.
• Time is an environmental or situational constraint, such as a rushed meeting or a deadline, not a weakness of the receiver.

Mains connection: a district officer's communication with villagers or with subordinate staff often fails because of such receiver-side filters, so GS-IV answers on communication and attitudes can use this framework.

Trap: aspirants pick Jargon because people often fail to understand it, so it seems like a receiver problem. The test is whose fault the barrier is. If the sender must change the message, it is a sender barrier. If the listener's own attitude is the problem, it is a receiver barrier.