Hearing only what you want to hear and sorting out what's not important or of no interest to you is called effective listening. all of the above. selective listening. active listening.

The correct answer is selective listening.

Selective listening refers to a barrier in communication wherein individuals only partially listen to what someone is saying, while tuning out details that the listener deems irrelevant. Selective listening has various causes; listeners might find what the speaker is saying boring, the listener is unwilling to participate in conversations about certain topics, etc.