Looking Out/Looking InLooking Out/Looking InThirteenth EditionThirteenth Edition

33PERCEPTION:PERCEPTION:WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GETWHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

CHAPTER TOPICSCHAPTER TOPICS

• The Perception Process• Influences on Perception• Common Tendencies in Perception• Perception Checking• Empathy, Cognitive Complexity and Communication

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Four Steps of the Perception Process• Selection

• Organization

• Interpretation

• Negotiation

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Selection• What attracts your attention?

• Selecting which impressions we will attend to• Stimuli that are intense often attract our attention• We’re more likely to remember:

• Extremely tall or short people• An obnoxious laugh• A person who speaks loudly

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Organization• Along with selecting information, we must

arrange it in some meaningful way

• What do you see?

• Which image stands out?

Figure 3.1 Page 84

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Organization• “Vase-Face” has a two figure relationships• How many ways can you view the boxes?

Figure 3.3 Page 85

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Organization• We classify people based on their:

• Appearance• Beautiful or Ugly, Young or Old

• Social Role• Student, Attorney, Wife

• Interaction Style• Friendly, Helpful, Aloof

• Membership• Democrat, Immigrant, Christian

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Organization• Stereotyping

• After the organizational scheme has been chosen, we use that scheme to make generalizations

• These generalizations lead to stereotyping• Stereotypes may be based on a small amount of

truth but beyond the facts at hand usually have no valid basis

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Organization• Stereotyping

• Three Characteristics• You often categorize people on the basis of an easily

recognized characteristic

• You ascribe a set of characteristics to most or all members of a category

• You apply the set of characteristics to any member of the group

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Organization• Punctuation

• Consider the punctuation of these sentences:• “I don’t like your friend because he never has anything to

say.”• “He doesn’t talk to you because you act like you don’t

like him.”• “I keep talking because you interrupt so much.”• “I interrupt so much because you don’t give me the

chance to say what’s on my mind.”

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Interpretation• After we organize information we interpret it in

a way that makes sense to us• Interpretation plays a role in nearly every

interpersonal act• Consider these scenarios:

• Is a friend’s kidding a sign of affection or irritation?• Should you take an invitation to “drop by any time”

literally or not?

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Interpretation• Several factors influence our interpretation of

an event:• Degree of involvement with the other person• Personal experience• Assumptions about human behavior• Attitudes• Expectations• Knowledge• Self-concept

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The Perception ProcessThe Perception Process

• Negotiation• Sense-making occurs between people as they

influence one another’s perception• Narratives

• Interpersonal acts have more than one narrative• These narratives often differ

• Ask two quarreling children what they are fighting about• You will be bombarded with two very different narratives

• Shared narratives provide the best chance for smooth communication

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Influences on PerceptionInfluences on Perception

• Physiological Influences• Each of us perceives the work in a unique

way• The Senses

• How we experience our senses changes the way we interact and shape our perception

• Consider these everyday situations:• “Turn down the radio! It’s going to make me go deaf.”• “It’s not too loud. If I turn it down, it will be impossible to

hear it.”

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Influences on PerceptionInfluences on Perception

• Physiological Influences• The Senses

• Scents that please some people, repel others• Temperature is subjective as well

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Influences on PerceptionInfluences on Perception

• Physiological Influences• Age

• Older people view the world differently because they have a greater scope of experiences

• Health and Fatigue• How do you experience the world?

• When you are tired?• When you are sick?

• Did you feel less sociable?• When you’re hungry?

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Influences on PerceptionInfluences on Perception

• Cultural Differences• Perception is also affected by your culture• Every culture has its own world view• The range of cultural differences is wide

• In Middle Eastern countries: • Personal scents play an important role in communication

• In Asian cultures• Talk is perceived differently• Silence is valued

• How does this differ for Western cultures?

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Influences on PerceptionInfluences on Perception

• Cultural Differences• Ethnocentrism

• The attitude that one’s own culture is superior to others

• Geography• Even ones physical location can shape the way

they view the world• Consider living in a particular part of the country• What does it mean to live in the North?• What does it mean to live in the West?

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Influences on PerceptionInfluences on Perception

• Social Roles• Gender Roles (Sex vs. Gender)

• Sex refers to biological characteristics• Gender refers to psychological dimensions of

masculine and feminine behavior • Gender roles are socially approved ways that men

and women are expected to behave

• Androgynous Gender Role• Combines masculine and feminine traits

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Influence on PerceptionInfluence on Perception

• Social Roles• Occupational Roles• The kind of work we do influences our view of

the world• Imagine five people taking a walk through the park

• A botanist• A zoologist• A meteorologist• A psychologist• A pickpocket

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Influence on PerceptionInfluence on Perception

• Social Roles• Relational roles

• Roles you play in relation to others• The role of parent

• Does being a parent change the way you view the world?

• The roles involved in romantic love• Partner, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, sweetheart

• Your romantic roles can also change the way you view others

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Common Tendencies in Common Tendencies in PerceptionPerception

• We Judge Ourselves More Charitably• Self-serving Bias

• An attempt to convince ourselves that the positive face we show the world is true

• Consider this example:• When they botch a job, they weren’t listening well or

trying hard enough• When we botch a job, the problem was unclear or

perhaps there wasn’t enough time

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Common Tendencies in Common Tendencies in PerceptionPerception

• We Cling to First Impressions• Halo Effect

• The tendency to form an overall positive impression of a person on the basis of one positive characteristic

• We assume that others are similar to us

• We are influenced by the obvious

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Perception CheckingPerception Checking

• The Skill of Perception Checking• Serious problems can arise when we treat our

interpretations as matters of fact• Consider the following:

• “Why are you mad at me?” (Who said you were?)• “What’s the matter with you?” (Who said anything

was the matter?)• “Come on now. Tell the truth.” (Who said you were

lying?)

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Perception CheckingPerception Checking

• Elements of Perception Checking• A perception check has three parts:

• A description of the behavior you noticed

• At least two possible interpretations of the behavior

• A request for clarification about how to interpret the behavior

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Perception Checking Perception Checking

• Example:• “You haven’t laughed much in the last couple

of days.” (behavior) • “It makes me wonder whether something’s

bothering you,” (first interpretation)• “or whether you’re just feeling quiet.” (second

interpretation)• “What’s up?” (request for clarification)

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Perception CheckingPerception Checking

• Perception Checking Considerations• Completeness

• A perception check doesn’t always need all parts

• Nonverbal Congruency• Nonverbal behavior reflects open-mindedness

• Cultural Rules• A straight forward approach may cause problems

• Face Saving• Can help raise an uncomfortable topic

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Empathy, Cognitive Complexity Empathy, Cognitive Complexity and Communicationand Communication

• Empathy• The ability to re-create another person’s

perspective, to experience the world from the other’s point of view

• Sympathy• Viewing another person’s situation from your

point of view

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Empathy, Cognitive Complexity Empathy, Cognitive Complexity and Communicationand Communication

• Cognitive Complexity• The ability to construct a variety of

frameworks for viewing an issue• Cognitive complexity:

• Increases the chances of satisfying communication in a variety of contexts

• Can be enhanced through training• Can help increase one’s empathy

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Empathy, Cognitive Complexity Empathy, Cognitive Complexity and Communicationand Communication

• The Pillow Method• A quick tool for clarifying misunderstandings

Figure 3.5 Page 110

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Empathy, Cognitive Complexity Empathy, Cognitive Complexity and Communicationand Communication

• The Pillow Method• Position 1: I’m Right, You’re Wrong• Position 2: You’re Right, I’m Wrong• Position 3: Both Right, Both Wrong• Position 4: The Issue Isn’t as Important as it

Seems• Position 5: There is Truth in All Four

Perspectives

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Chapter ReviewChapter Review

• The Perception Process

• Influences on Perception

• Common Tendencies in Perception

• Perception Checking

• Empathy, Cognitive Complexity and Communication