Perception & the Self
AKA Person Perception
Perception
The process of
gathering sensory
information and
assigning
meaning to it.
Filters:
What gets through & Why?
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Selective Attention:
The ability to process certain of the
stimuli available to us while filtering out
others
Physiological Filters
Psychological Sets
Three basic stages
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Selection
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Organization
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Interpretation
Culture impacts Perception
Müller-Lyer Illusion
Self-Concept
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Self-Esteem
Who the heck am I…
really?
Development of Self Concept
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Self Concept: the relatively stable
impressions of yourself
We learn who we are through:
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Interactions with other individuals
Associations with groups
Roles we assume
Our own labels
Our personalities
Self-Concept vs. Self-Esteem
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Self-Concept – description of who you
are; relatively stable
Self-Esteem – evaluation of who you
are. (AKA Self-Worth)
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Based upon your perception of such
things as your skills, abilities, talents,
appearance, etc.
Other influences on SelfEsteem & the Self Concept
„ Feedback
„ Shyness / Communication
apprehension
„ Self-fulfilling prophecies
„ Behavior attribution
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
(AKA The Pygmalion Effect)
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The belief that
predictions about
your future actions
are likely to come
true because you
believe that they will
come true
Why do we care?
Self-Concept
Self-Esteem
Interpersonal
Communication & Relationships
Perceptions of Others
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First impressions--implicit personality
theory (unity and central traits)
Primacy effect
Physical attractiveness
Expressiveness / Charisma
Stereotyping
Central Traits &
Primacy Effect: Example
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People who know him consider him to
be a rather WARM person: intelligent,
skillful industrious, determined, practical
and cautious.
People who know him consider him to
be a rather COLD person: intelligent,
skillful industrious, determined, practical
and cautious.
Social Roles
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Work roles
Sex roles
Marital roles (Hiller and Philliber study)
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traditional marriage relationship
reluctant wife marriage relationship
reluctant husband marriage relationship
androgynous marriage relationship
Improving perception skills
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Avoid rushing to judgments
Become aware of others’ perceptions
of YOU
Increase your awareness
Become “other-oriented”
Validate your perceptions
Validating Perception Accuracy
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Indirect Perception Checking – seeking
additional information through passive
perception
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Multisensory Cross Check – use more than
one sense to interpret
Consensus – Compare your perceptions
with those of other people
(Look – Ask – Compare)
Direct Perception Checking – Consult
the person you are perceiving