1. Chapter 2
Perceiving the Self
and Others

2. • Describe how our personal
perspective on the world influences
our communication
• Explain how we use and misuse
schemas when communicating with
others
• Define the attributions we use to
explain behavior
Chapter
Outcomes

3. • Describe cultural differences that
influence perception
• Identify how our self-concept—who
we think we are—influences
communication
• Describe how our cognitions about
ourselves and our behavior affect our
communication with others
Chapter
Outcomes (cont.)

4. A cognitive process
through which we
interpret our
experiences and
come to our own
unique
understandings
Perception

5. • Gathering, organizing,
and evaluating the
information we receive
• Also involves our basic
senses, along with
personal factors
Communication
Processing

6. • Selecting information
• Organizing perceptions
• Interpreting perceptions
• Improving perceptions
The Perception
Process

7. Schemas:
Organizing
Perceptions
• Schemas:
– Mental structures that put together
related bits of information
– Help us understand how things work
and how they should proceed
– Evolve and change over time

8. Challenges with
Schemas
and Perception
• Mindlessness
– Passive information
processing vs. mindfulness
• Selective perception
– Receiving only the information we want
• Undue influence
– Giving another person power over our
perceptions

9. Attributions:
Interpreting Your
Perceptions
• Attributions: personal
characteristics used to explain
others’ behaviors
– Fundamental attribution error:
overemphasizing internal,
underestimating external causes of
behaviors

10. Attributions:
Interpreting
Your Perceptions (cont.)
– Self-serving bias: attributing personal
success to internal factors
– Interaction appearance theory:
changing another’s attributions based
on increased contact

11. • Verify your
perceptions.
• Be thoughtful when
seeking explanations.
• Look beyond first
impressions.
Improving Your
Perceptions

12. Culture affects
how we perceive
ourselves and
others.
Perception in a
Diverse World

13. • Narrow perspective
– Cultural myopia: believing one’s own
culture is appropriate and relevant in all
situations
• Stereotyping
– Fitting others into an existing schema
without adjusting the schema
appropriately
– May be positive, negative, or neutral
Perceptual Barriers

14. Perceptual Barriers
(cont.)
• Prejudice
– Deep-seated feelings of unkindness
and ill will toward particular groups
– Usually based on negative stereotypes
and feelings of superiority over those
groups

15. Cognition:
Perceiving Ourselves
• Self-concept
• Self-esteem
• Self-efficacy

16. Self-Concept: Who You
Think You Are
• Influenced by thoughts, actions,
abilities, values, goals, and ideals
• Influences how you communicate
with others
• Reinforced by how others
communicate with you based on:
– Direct and indirect evidence
– Social comparison theory

17. Self-Esteem: How You
Feel
About Yourself• A set of attitudes you hold
about your own emotions,
thoughts, abilities, skills,
behavior, and beliefs
• Linked to self-concept: You
must know yourself to have
attitudes about your self.

18. Self-Efficacy:
Assessing
Your Own Abilities• Ability to predict actual success
based on your self-concept and self-
esteem
• Affects your ability to interpret events
and cope with failure and success
• Inaccurate self-efficacy can lead to
self-fulfilling prophecies.

19. Assessing Our
Perceptions of Self
• Self-Actualization
– Feelings and thoughts resulting
from negotiating a communication
situation as well as you possibly
could
– Can lead to satisfaction

20. Assessing Our
Perceptions of Self
(cont.)
• Self-Adequacy
– Assessing your communication
competence as sufficient or
acceptable
– Can lead to contentment or self-
improvement

21. Assessing Our
Perceptions of Self
(cont.)
• Self-Denigration
– A negative assessment (self-
criticism) about a communication
experience.
– Often unwarranted that occurs
when communicators place undue
importance on weaknesses

22. Behavior: Managing Our
Identities
• Self-presentation
– Intentional communication
designed to show elements of self
for strategic purposes
– Occurs through various channels
– Requires self-monitoring

23. Behavior: Managing Our
Identities (cont.)
• Self-disclosure
– Revealing yourself to others by
sharing personal information
– Must not be information easily
known to others
– Sharing must be voluntary

24. Behavior: Managing Our
Identities (cont.)

25. Technology: Managing
the
Self and Perceptions
• Self-presentation can be more
controlled online than in person.
• Make conscious choices about what
to reveal to others.
• Others may create perceptions about
you based upon what you reveal.
• Technology allows for
experimentation with identity.