PS28A Applied Interpersonal Dynamics

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PS28A Applied Interpersonal Dynamics

• PERCEPTION

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What Is Perception?

• We usually see things we are looking for so
  much that we sometimes see them where they are
  not (Eric Hoffer)
• We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
  When they dont it is easier to ignore the facts
  than to change the preconceptions.

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What is perception?

• Definition
• A process by which individuals organize and
  interpret their sensory impressions in order to
  give meaning to their environment and their
  experiences.
• (Robbins, 1996, italics mine)

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• What do you see when you look at this image?

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• How many legs does this elephant have?

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• What image is this portrait?

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Do we all see the man and the woman in this
bottle?
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Factors Influencing Perception

• The Perceiver
• When an individual looks at a target what he/she
  sees is heavily influenced by personal
  characteristics
• - Attitudes, motives, interests, past
  experience
• (See Katzs Model)

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Factors Influencing Perception

• The Target
• Characteristics in the target that is being
  observed can affect what is perceived
• Motion, size, sound
• Its background

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Factors Influencing Perception

• The Situation
• The environment in which the person or object is
  seen or where an event took place

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The Perception Process

• There are three basic processes
• Selection
• Organization
• Interpretation

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The Perception Process contd

• Selection - A sub process of identifying the
  relevant/appropriate data.
• Intensity physical properties or cues that
  stand out
• Repetition continuous exposure to a stimulus
  increases our awareness of it.
• Contrast Contrasting stimulus may be easily
  identifiable.
• Motives speaks to the reasoning behind the
  selection

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The Perception Process contd

• Organization
• Involves the application of meaning to the
  stimulus (making sense of the information)
• How does this sub-process work?
• Use of perceptual schema or cognitive frameworks

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The Perception Process contd

• Organization contd.
• Our perceptual schema consists of a number of
  different constructs that we use to classify self
  and others
• Physical constructs appearance/look
• Role constructs social status
• Interaction constructs social behaviour
• Psychological constructs feelings displayed
• Membership construct identify others according
  to the group they belong

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Perception Process

• These schemas affect communication in two ways
• Allow us to form impressions of others
• Used to predict future behaviours
• Choosing some constructs means that you ignore
  others

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The Perception Process contd

• Interpretation the third level of the
  perception process that determines our reactions
  to the stimulus.

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The Perception Process contd

• Interpretation contd
• A number of factors may influence our
  interpretation. Four of these are
• Degree of involvement with the other person
• Past Experience
• Expectations
• Self concept

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Influences on Perception

• Physiological influences
• Cultural differences
• Social Roles
• Self concept
• Shared Narratives

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Influences on Perception

• Physiological influences
• The senses
• Age
• Health
• Fatigue
• Hunger
• Biological Cycles

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Influences on Perception

• Cultural differences
• Culture is a powerful factor in shaping
  perception. Every culture has its own world
  view.

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Influences on Perception

• Self Concept
• Extensive research shows that a person with high
  self-esteem is more likely to think well of
  others whereas someone with low self-esteem is
  likely to have a poor opinion of others

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Influences on Perception

• Shared Narratives
• Our interaction with other individuals and groups
  creates a shared perception of the world. The
  term narrative reflects the notion that humans
  make sense of the world by spinning a kind of
  story to explain events.

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A Model of Perception (Susan Fritz et. Al.
Interpersonal skills for leadership)
Inner World
Outer World
Senses Expectations Desire Interest Emotions Attit
udes Self-perception Tendencies
Verbal Nonverbal Culture Gender Observations Conte
xt
Stimulus
Perception
New Brain Patterns
Response
Learning
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Person Perception

• People have beliefs about other people they know.
  These beliefs guide people in several ways.
• Within social psychology, the study of beliefs
  about people is called person perception.
• Person perception may be distinguished from
  object perception in several ways

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Person vs Object Perception

• Person perception is reciprocal.
• Persons are aware that others are perceiving them
  and try to evaluate what is being perceived.
• Person perception is directly tied to self
  perception.
• People change more than physical object do .

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The Role of Perception within the Interpersonal

• Why is is important to understand the subject
  area of perception?
• 1. To identify our own tendencies in perceiving
  self and others.
• 2. To increase our awareness of how these
  tendencies affect (positive/negative) our
  interpersonal relationships and encounters.

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The Role of Perception within the Interpersonal

• Our Tendencies
• We often tend to judge ourselves more generously
  than we judge others
• We tend to be influenced by what is most obvious
• We tend to cling to first impressions
• We tend to assume others are similar to us

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ATTRIBUTION

• Attribution Theory Main concept internal vs.
  external locus of control the interpretation of
  situations as being caused by ones disposition
  or by ones environment.

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ATTRIBUTION

• Attribution is the process of attaching meaning
  to behaviour (Adler Towne)

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ATTRIBUTION

• Self-Serving Bias
• We make internal attributions about our
  successes or positive outcome and blame our
  failures or negative outcomes on external factors

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ATTRIBUTION

• Fundamental Attribution Error
• We tend to emphasise external factors and
  underemphasize internal or situational factors

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ATTRIBUTION

• Attribution Cube Theory Harold Kelly 1971.
• Attribution Cube Theory highlights three
  factors that determine whether the behaviour of
  others is attributed to internal or external
  causes.
• Consensus Does the behaviour affect everyone in
  the same way?
• Consistency Does the behaviour occur
  repeatedly?
• Distinctiveness Does the behaviour occur in
  other similar situations

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ATTRIBUTION

• Can we use attribution effectively?

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PERCEPTION CHECKING

• Perception checking is an important approach to
  ensuring that we do not assume that our first
  interpretation is correct or be treated as facts.
• It involves three basic elements

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Perception Checking - Steps

• Description of Behaviour - give a non evaluated,
  descriptive account of what was noticed.
• At least two possible interpretations - give two
  possible interpretations to what was seen
• A request for clarification about how to
  interpret the behaviour give the person the
  opportunity to clarify the behaviour displayed

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Example of Perception Checking

• When you stomped out of the room and slammed the
  door (behaviour), I wasnt sure whether you were
  mad at me (first interpretation) or just in a
  hurry (second interpretation). How did you feel?
  (request for clarification)

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Empathy

• Empathy is the ability to re-create anothers
  perspective to experience the world from
  anothers point of view.
• It involves three dimensions
• Perspective taking
• Emotional aspect
• Genuine concern for the others welfare

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Empathy

• Perspective Taking
• An attempt to take on the viewpoint of another
  person set aside your own judgment/opinions and
  try to understand the other person

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Empathy

• Emotional Taking
• The ability to get close to experiencing others
  feelings to get a sense of their fear, joy,
  sadness, anger, frustration, etc.

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Empathy

• Genuine Concern
• It is going beyond just thinking and feeling as
  the individual, and expressing genuine care about
  anothers well being.

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Build Empathy Pillow Method

• Position 1 Im right, youre wrong
• We see virtues in our position and find fault
  with anyone who happens to disagree with us.
• Position 2 Youre right, Im wrong
• We switch perspectives and build the strongest
  possible arguments to explain how another person
  can view the issue different from you.

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Pillow Method 5 Positions

• Position 3 Both right, both wrong
• From this position you see strengths and
  weaknesses in both perspectives.
• Position 4 The issue isnt as important as it
  seems
• Realizing that the controversy is not as critical
  as you thought

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Pillow Method 5 Positions

• Position 5 There is truth in all 4 perspectives
• Once you have looked at the issue from all
  positions, you will gain new insights that may
  cause you to
• Change your mind
• Solve the problem at hand
• Increase your own tolerance
• Improve the communcation climate

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The Pillow Method In Action

• Background
• Who would have thought planning a wedding would
  be such a nightmare? My fiancé and I are
  struggling to decide whether we should have a
  large, festive wedding, or a small, intimate one.
  Im in favour of having a big, expensive
  ceremony and party. He wants a smaller, more
  affordable one.

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Position1 Im right, hes wrong

• I have a big family, and I would feel guilty not
  inviting everyone. Also, we have lots of
  friends who would really miss not being present
  to celebrate our special day. If we invite one
  friend or a relative, I say we have to invite
  them all to avoid hurting anybodys feelings.
  Otherwise, where do you draw the line? As far as
  money goes, I say that you only get to marry
  once, and this is no time to scrimp. My parents
  are willing to help pay the expenses because they
  want our entire family to be there at the
  wedding.

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Position2 Hes right, Im wrong

• My fiancé is right to say that we really dont
  have the funds to spend on a fancy wedding.
  Every dollar we spend on a lavish event will be
  one less dollar we have to buy a house, which we
  hope to do soon. My boyfriend is right to say
  that a big wedding could postpone our house
  purchase for a year or two maybe even longer, if
  real estate prices go up before we

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Position 2 cont

• can buy. Hes also right to say that no matter
  how many people we invite, someone is always
  going to be left out. Its just a case of where
  we draw the line. Finally, hes right to say
  that planning a big wedding will be a very
  stressful process.

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Position 3Both right wrong

• Both of us are right and both are wrong. Im
  right to want to include my extended families and
  friends on this joyous day, and Im right to say
  that a special wedding would be a lifetime
  memory. Hes right that doing so could still
  leave some hurt feelings, and that it will
  postpone our house purchase. He also has a good
  point when he says that planning a big event
  could drive us crazy, and distract us from the
  real importance of joining our lives.

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Position 4 The issue is not important

• After thinking about it, Ive realized that
  getting married is different from being married.
  The decision about what kind of ceremony to have
  is important, but ultimately it wont affect the
  kind of marriage we have. How we behave after
  were married will be much more important. And
  we are going to face a lot of decisions together
  about children and jobs for e.g. that will
  have much bigger consequences than this ceremony.

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Position 5Conclusion

• Before using the pillow method to think through
  all sides of this issue, I was focused on getting
  my way. This attitude was creating some feelings
  between my fiancé and I that were not what we
  should not be having as we face this most
  important event. Ive realized that if one or
  the other of us wins but the result is injured
  feelings, it wont be much of a victory. I dont
  know what kind of

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Position 5 cont

• ceremony we will finally decide to have, but Im
  determined to keep my focus on the really
  important goal of keeping our relationship
  positive and respectful.