AS Communication Studies Essentials
intrapersonal communication
Errors in perception
Perception is the process of perceiving others and making judgements about them. Sometimes our judgements are wrong. Errors in perceptions and misjudgements could be seen as barriers to communication. Here are some examples where we can be led to judge people inaccurately:
- Primacy effect. We tend to stick with our first impressions of a person - despite later experiences with that person that shows our initial impression was wrong
- Recency effect. Our impressions of a person are unduly affected by the most recent encounter with them. For example if you ended a pleasant day with an argument with someone, it would be the argument that clouded your judgement of the person, not the pleasant day
- Halo effect. This is where we focus on just one positive aspect of a person and then perceive them, overall, in a very positive light
- Horns effect. This is the opposite: seeing just one negative aspect of a person and judging them negatively
- Cultural bias. Misunderstanding people from different cultures with different cultural practices
- Stereotypes (labelling). Some examples: racism, sexism, class prejudice
Our perceptions and judgements of other people will be based on our own unique ways of classifying the world and other people. To avoid errors in perception we should be more flexible and open-minded, we should check evidence against first impressions, and be willing to empathise more (see things from their point of view).