Stephen Varmon

Professor Temple
BCOMM
13 October 2015
Perception
Perception is the way we look at things, others, or yourself; other known as selfperception. Its the way we adapt to our environment around us and make decisions based on
them. We act a certain way due to our surroundings. Stereotypes are perceptions given to people.
A stereotype is a generalization about a group or category of people. Stereotypes organize
individuals according to categories such as ethnic origin, socioeconomics economic status, age,
gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and even body type (In Company Of Others,
p. 41).
Stereotypes make an impact on lives because of the image given to them because of who
they are. For example gays and lesbians are stereotyped, a man that is gay may be seen as
feminine and a lesbian women may be viewed as masculine, which is false. Another example can
be all Muslims and Arabs are terrorists. These examples show how cultures and lifestyle choices
can be effected by perception of others. In these situations they are perceived in a negative way.
These stereotypes impact these communities which changes the way society sees them.
Perceptions of yourself can be seen through first impressions. The way someone
perceives you is based on the first impression. If two people meet and you arent polite and use
manners, youre going to be seen more negatively. Bad first impressions can show a false

perception. If someone accidently says something offending during their first conversation, they
could be perceived as a disrespectful person when it could simply just be a miscommunication.
Miscommunication happens often during conversations and causes bad first impressions.
Self-perception is the way you see yourself. The way you see yourself is different than
how others see you. You see yourself differently because you know yourself more than anyone
else can know you. Self-perception can be very opinionated. If you committed a crime but
believe you did it for a good reason, you are seen as a criminal in other peoples perspective but
you see yourself as a good person still.
Perception influences the communication process. The attribution theory gives someone
the ability to result in a consequence to an event that occurs. Such as an employee being fired;
the employer that fires the employees perceived the employee to not fit the job, where in the
employees perspective they believe they were best fit for his/her job. Perception leads to
distortions. Distortions are judgments of others, as we spoke about before stereotyping is a
distortion. This creates conflicts in communication.
Perception is the way people see things, others or yourself and is an important factor in
communication. Different types of perception lead to how we communicate and can create
positive or negative consequences.