Sean hopes to convey to Beth his interest in dating her. She does not understand his hints and simply speaks to him as a friend. Sean and Beth are experiencing:

an interpersonal gap

Explanation:

Interpersonal Gap: The term interpersonal gap is defined as the phenomenon in which the degree of congruence is being seen between an individual's intentions and the other person's encountering the effect. It generally consists of two different transformations. It is considered as a communication model which was discovered by John L. The interpersonal gap usually refers to the inability of an individual to understand the other persons' emotions, attitude, behavior, etc.

In the question above, Sean and Beth are experiencing an interpersonal gap.