Chapter 3: Perception and the Self

I. Perception is a key component to understanding how communication influences our

identity and the world around us.
A. Perception is noticing and giving meaning to the things around us.
B. There are three stages of perception:
i. Stage one - Selection is the act of consciously or subconsciously attending
to stimuli in the environment.
1. We usually pay attention to things that are unusual, common, and
intense (remember that what is common for one person may be
uncommon for another).
ii. Stage two - Organization: after we decide what to attend to, we classify it
based on other things we are already familiar with that are either similar
or dissimilar to the new stimuli.
1. Schemas: mental framework (or shortcut) used to organize
experiences.
iii. Stage 3 - Interpretation: Assigning meaning to the stimuli. Our
interpretation is influenced by many different variables, our expectations
being one of them.
1. Expectancy violation theory: asserts that we hold expectations for
what we deem appropriate or typical for a type of person or
relationship. When expectancies are violated, we go through an
evaluation process to determine how to respond.
a. We assess the valence of the violation, which can be
negative or positive (Example: someone talking too loudly
in an environment that is typically silent would receive a
negative evaluation).
b. We then assess the communicator reward value, which is
our feelings toward the person who did the violating.
II. We often make assumptions about others based on how we perceive them.
A. We attribute another person’s behavior to one of two categories:
i. Situational: Also known as external; we attribute what someone is doing
to an environmental factor (Example: your friend is late because there
was traffic).
ii. Internal: Also known as interpersonal; we assume someone did
something because of their character (Example: your friend is late
because they are careless or have poor time management).
iii. Fundamental attribution error: The tendency to overestimate the internal
characteristics and underestimate the influence of external factors.
B. Many things can interrupt, influence, and affect how we perceive.
i. Physical influences:
1. Physiological state: the temporary condition of the body such as
being tired, sick, or hungry.
 2. Physiologic traits: permanent conditions that affect us such as our
natural time for optimal productivity.
a. Lark: functions best early in the day.
b. Owl: functions best at later times of the day.
c. Hummingbird: function well throughout the day
ii. Cultural influences (Example: collectivist culture emphasizes community
over individual achievement so would perceive copying someone’s work
as normal whereas someone from a Western culture would interpret it as
cheating).
iii. Occupational influences: specific training and skill sets allow for people to
be attuned to specific things in situations.
iv. Psychological influences and biases:
1. Stereotyping: generalizations about groups of people that are
applied to an individual we believe to be part of the group.
Problems arise when we hold tight to the rigid expectations.
v. Primacy and recency effects:
1. Primacy effect: People are likely to emphasize their first
impression of someone or something over subsequent
encounters.
2. Recency effect: People are also prone to using their most recent
impressions of someone or something to influence perceptions.
vi. Positivity and negativity bias: The tendency to highlight or overemphasize
either positive or negative information and characteristics when creating
an impression.
vii. Egocentrism: Most of us like to talk about ourselves so there is a need to
manage this desire. If we don’t, we are likely to perceive that people
experience things the same way as us and that people act toward us.
1. Egocentric: People who are completely focused on themselves
and ignorant to the needs of others.
III. Perception also affects how we define ourselves.
A. Self-concepts are the images we have of who we believe we are. Our self-
concepts are all different, but our identities share four characteristics:
i. Shaped by others: We perceive ourselves based on how others respond
to us.
1. Can be through direct or indirect communication from others.
2. We are also influenced by what we think others think of us.
ii. Are multifaceted: People define themselves differently based on the
situation they are in.
1. We are the sum of many smaller selves.
2. Johari Window: A model that describes aspects of self-concept
based on what you know about yourself and what others know
about you. It is made up of four quadrants.
a. Open: Things we know about ourselves and others know.
 b. Blind: The things others know about you that you do not
know about yourself.
c. Hidden: The things you know about yourself but do not
share with others.
d. Unknown: The things that neither you or others know
about you (Example: how you might respond to something
in the future).
iii. Are somewhat subjective: Most of our self-concept is driven by subjective
interpretation and so people cannot be counted on to evaluate
themselves accurately.
1. People often overestimate their positive qualities or
2. People negatively evaluate their attributes, usually when self-
esteem is low.
iv. Endure and change: We develop our self-concept over a long period of
time.
1. Changing self-concept is a slow process.
2. It changes based on experiences we have and the people we
encounter.
3. As we get older, we tend to spend time with those who reinforce
our self-concept.
IV. Managing the perceptions of ourselves in different contexts is a mental task.
A. Facework: The behaviors we use to create and maintain a positive perception of
ourselves. We conduct facework in three different contexts…
i. Fellowship face: an effort to fulfill the need to have others respect us; this
applies to social relationships like friends, romantic partners and others
you encounter in social settings.
ii. Competence face: the effort to promote expertise on subjects so that
others respect you; manifests in professional settings.
iii. Autonomy face: This is based off our need to feel independent; the
perception that we can do things on our own and avoid others making
decisions for us.
B. Face threats: things that threaten to damage the image we work to present to
others (Example: when a first date does not go well it threatens our fellowship
face).
C. Managing our faces.
i. Image management: the process of coordinating the presentation of our
self-concept with various groups in different situations.
1. Image management is collaborative because our self-concept is
constantly influenced by the interaction between ourselves and
others.
2. Image management is complex because we encounter multiple
audiences and have to monitor all the different parts of ourselves
we show to others.