George, a Manager, Has Just Received Some Bad News from His

George, a manager, has just received some bad news from his foreign counterpart about an ongoing negotiation. Disturbed and distracted, he is thinking of ways to control the damage when a subordinate walks into his office and asks for an extended leave due to a family emergency. George refuses to grant leave despite it being an emergency situation. In this scenario, George's disturbed mood is representative of ________ in the communication process between himself and his subordinate.

A) ambiguity
B) perceptual bias
C) a physical barrier
D) a language barrier
E) noise