Perceptions, Self and

Communication

Perceiving Others

Narratives Attributes What influences one’s perceptions? Culture Empathy vs. Sympathy

Self Perception

Self-concept Self-Fulfilling prophecies

Perceiving Others

Narratives: “The personal stories that one creates to make sense of one’s personal world.”

How We Perceive Others

Self-serving bias: “Judging oneself more generously than one judges others.”

We take the “easiest route”What is most obviousFirst ImpressionsSimilarities to oneself

Perceptions of others, cont.

We value negative impressions over positive ones

We blame innocent victims for their misfortunes

Perceptions are Situational

Relational satisfaction Degree of involvement Past experience Expectations Social Roles Knowledge Self-concept

Perceptions and Culture

Empathy: experience the world through other’s perspective

Sympathy: feel both compassion for others and accept others reasons as valid

Perception checking: awareness of perceptions

Perceiving the Self

Self-concept: “A set of relatively stable perceptions that each of us hold about ourselves.”

Self-esteem: evaluation of self-worth Reflected appraisal: “We develop an

image of ourselves from the way we think others view us.”

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

“When a person’s expectations of an outcome make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true.”

Types of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Your own expectations influence your behavior

Expectations of others influence your actions