Perspectives in Communication
Content
• Definition of Perception
• Perceptual filters
• Perceptual tendencies
• Factors influencing perception
• Importance of having the right perception
• Changing perceptions
Objective
At the end of this
session, students will be able to:
• Describe the perspectives affecting communication
• Identify the effects of perception on communication
• Discuss the influencing factors for changing perception
Perception
Perception is a process in which we use our senses to
acquire information about our environment or any other situation, and thereby
develop an individual understanding of the subject.
For example, while the color red may mean ‘stop’ in India,
it would have the particular political significance for Communists, represent
debt in the US, and suggest good fortune in China.
Perceptual
Filters
Individual’s Unique Perceptual Filters (The World as it is, the
World as it appears)
Values, Needs, Goals, Interests, Beliefs, Attitudes,
Expectations, Wants, Knowledge, Feelings, Languages, Education
Importance
of Having the Right Perception-Self
Incorrect self-perception facilitates:
• Stereotyping and bias
• Prejudices, resulting in ineffective communication
Hence, it is important to have correct self-perception. This
can be achieved by asking for feedback.
Importance
of Having the Right Perception Others
Having the right perception is important to avoid:
• Getting influenced by what is most obvious
• Clinging to first impressions, even if wrong
• Assumptions that others are similar to us
• Favoring negative impressions over positive ones
• Blaming innocent victims for their misfortunes
Attribution
Theory
Attribution Theory has been proposed to explain the ways in which
we judge people differently, depending on what meaning we attribute to a given
behavior.
• Internal Attribution: The process of assigning the cause
of behavior to some internal characteristic, rather than to outside forces like
personality, motives or beliefs
• External Attribution: The process of assigning the cause
of behavior to some situation or event outside a person’s control such as
situational or environment features
Internal attribution paves the way for positive emotions which
in turn affects the output. The environment turns positive.
External attribution paves the way to negative emotions leading
to negative environment.
Shortcuts
to Perception
• Attribution: The process of attaching meaning to behavior.
One judges one-self more charitably
One judges others more critically
• Halo Effect: Drawing a general impression about an individual
based on a single characteristic
• Contrast effects: Evaluations of person’s characteristics that
are affected by comparison with other people recently encountered who rank
higher of lower on same characteristics
• Projection: Attributing one’s own characteristics to other
people
Perceptual
Tendencies
• Stereotypes – Beliefs about attributes that are thought to
be characteristic of members of particular groups
• Prejudice – Positive / Negative attitude or affective response
toward a certain group and its individual members e.g. : One enters a
situation, a meeting, or a conversation , with certain expectations of what
will happen in that scenario, and behave accordingly.
• Bias- Unfair treatment of members of a particular group based
on their membership in that group
Stereotype and
Perception
Stereotype is an unavoidable psychological representation of
characteristics of people belonging to particular groups; these representations
involve three characteristics:
a) Shared group beliefs which are coined by the opinions or norms
accepted by the social groups the perceiver belongs to
b) Energy-savers, reducing the effort of the perceiver
c) Meaningful, helping the observer give a meaning to the situation
Influence
of Prejudice on Communication
To get an idea of how this could be happening in a
workplace, consider how the phrases below can be completed. ( If you can’t think
of a way to complete it from your own experience, complete each phrase with a
stereotype that you might have heard in the past)
• Women in the workplace are..
• Young people in the workplace are..
• Seniors in the workplace are..
• Supervisors at work are..
• Working mothers in the workplace are…
Visual
Perception
Visual perception is the ability to see, organize, and interpret
one’s environment.
In the example above, which line looks longer to you? A? B?
Without visual perception, one would not be able to make
sense of words that he/she reads, visually recognize common objects, or have
the eye-hand coordination required for many daily tasks.
Key
Component Areas of Visual Perceptual Skills
• Visual Discrimination: The ability to notice detail
differences such as shape, size, color, or other dimensional aspects
• Form Discrimination: The ability to focus on a selected
target and screen out or ignore irrelevant images
• Spatial Relations: The ability to recognize the
positioning of objects in space
• Visual Closure: The ability to recognize an object, letter
or number without seeing all of the object
• Visual Sequencing: The ability to see objects in a
particular sequential order
• Visual Memory: The ability to remember forms (letters) and
sequences of forms (words), and recognize them quickly when seen again
Language and
Perception
The same words can have very different meanings depending on
how one interprets them. The interpretation depends on the perception of the
tone of the language.
Example:
A woman without her man is nothing.
A woman; without her, man is nothing.
Changing
Perception
Have a right and realistic perception about self and others
1. Acknowledge the perception: This is often the scary step
of admitting that one knows their flaws, and that one is aware of the impact on
others
2. Reveal the intention: One has to state clearly if one
wants to be seen differently, and that one is committed to growing in ability
in the identified area
3. Be compassionate: Human beings are perfect and flawed at the
same time, and there is huge grace in allowing ourselves to be seen fully, even
if it means imperfectly (by self and others)
4. Accept continued steady progress: This is where one
commits to continue work, matching ideal to real selves in partnership
5. Ask for feedback: Although this is hard, it makes sense
to ask people to let know any accidental mis-steps
Summary
• Perception is a belief held by a person, or many people,
based upon how they see the world around them
• It involves the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting
Information around
• Feelings, visual factors, prejudice, stereotype, past experiences
are the factors influencing perception
• Perception about self and others has to be appropriate
• Stereotype is a psychological representation of
characteristics of people belonging to particular groups
Disclaimer
All data and content provided in this presentation are taken
from the reference books, internet – websites and links, for informational
purposes only.