Interpersonal Perception Chapter 4

Improving Your Perceptual Abilities Chapter 4 Interpersonal Perception Perception is a Process Fundamental Forces in Interpersonal Perception How We Explain What We Perceive Improving Your Perceptual Abilities © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill 2

Interpersonal Perception Perception is the ongoing process of making meaning from what we experience in our environment. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

How Aware are you? Who Dunn It?: Focus: Ted- Misdirection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA Focus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo Ted- Misdirection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGY0wPAnus How Aware are you?

Perception is a Process The process of perception occurs in three stages: Selection Organization Interpretation © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Perception is a Process Factors affecting selection: How unusual or unexpected the stimulus is Frequency of exposure to stimulus Intensity of stimulus © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Perception is a Process Factors of organization: Physical constructs Role constructs Interaction constructs Psychological constructs © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Perception is a Process Factors of interpretation: Personal knowledge Knowledge of other communicator Closeness of relationship with other communicator © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Perception A work of art: http://twistedsifter.com/2016/01/nye-photo-from-manchester-is- modern-day-renaissance-masterpiece/

Perception is a Process Several influences affect the accuracy of interpersonal perceptions: Physiological states and traits Culture and co-culture Social roles © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Forces in Perception Interpersonal perception is affected by several fundamental forces: Stereotyping (generalization) Primacy (first impression) Recency (most recent) Egocentrism (judgement/ value of own over others) Perceptual set (predisposition on what we want/ expect) Positivity (idealistic) Negativity (pessimistic) © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

The Real Self/ Perception USMakeup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Ov8qvZ2_w AsianMakeup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzPQ2KLPArc Attraction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU0uNGUxdyo The Real Self/ Perception

How We Explain What We Percieve Attributions are answers to “why” questions: why did something occur? Attributions have three elements: Locus: is the cause internal or external? Stability: is the cause stable? Controllability: is the cause controllable? © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

How We Explain What We Perceive Three attribution errors are common: Self-serving bias https://www.verywell.com/what-is-the-self-serving-bias-2795032 Fundamental attribution error (situational) https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/real-men-dont-write-blogs/201406/why-we-dont-give-each-other-break Over-attribution (traits- overweight) © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Improving Your Perceptual Abilities Be mindful of your perceptions Know yourself and your biases Focus on other people’s characteristics Consider the context of the communication Check your perceptions Separate interpretations from facts Generate alternative perceptions Engage in perception-checking Revise your perceptions as needed © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill