Malaysia Fogle

Journal Entry 1
Professor Steven Williams
24 June 2020
Perception and Self

1. What is a negative label that has been given to you in your life? How has that label
affected your self-concept? How has this label affected the way you communicate with
others?
A negative label I have been given is failure and stupid. These labels have affected my self-
concept in many ways and has had a negative impact on my mind. Why I say this is because
when you start to hear these negative labels you start to view others in negative ways without
wanting to. In our book, The Communication Age, it says, “A saturated self occurs when an
individual’s identity is infused with the numerous, and sometimes incompatible, views of
others.” This spoke to me in a different way that fits well in a negative label. We take the views
of others or the mass communication of media seriously. When someone say you are fat or ugly
because you don’t look a certain way, you are potentially looking at yourself as a saturated self.
When communicating to others I always must think about what I am sayings and how to say
something. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and make someone feel bad about themselves. I
grew up having a hard time with reading and comprehension and when I say something wrong it
makes me feel like people are right, I’m a bit stupid. It makes it hard to communicate and makes
it hard to know I am saying the right thing. I tend to stutter and make myself look more stupid in
front of people.
When I change my mind on what I want to do or the route I want to go I have been told I am
failing and that I am nothing but a failure. This has been hard for me to communicate why I am
changing something or doing something different than planned, because I do not want people to
think I am giving up—or failing. I feel like changing my mind is a good thing, but I am always
scared to tell someone else because that is when I get looked down on that way. It has changed
the way I tell people things about me.
2. What is a positive label that has been given to you in your life? How has that label
affected your self-concept? How has this label affected the way you communicate with
others?
A positive label I have been given is I am creative and thoughtful. I love that I am creative
because it means my mind is working and always thinking. Being told I am creative helps me
with problem solving and finding things to do and sometimes in a better way. Being able to
communicate with others is easier I feel when you can think of different ways of doing so, it
helps me to express myself and sometimes others.
I have been labeled as a thoughtful person. It is because I tend to remember things that many
may not about a person. It is nice to see someone’s facial expression when I remember their
name or something about them. Remembering things helps me to communicate better with
others because I can get to know the person better and make better relationships with them.
When talking about culture in these last couple of chapters I believe my thoughtfulness label
comes from my cultural background. Being of German background I have been told by many
Malaysia Fogle
Journal Entry 1
Professor Steven Williams
24 June 2020
that Germans are thoughtful and are always making sure everyone else is okay before
themselves. Just as a label can express who you are so does your culture.
Cognitive complexity I feel is a term that we learned in our readings that fit both above positive
labels about myself. The reason I say this is because having cognitive complexity shows you can
communicate with others in a variety of ways. Being creative gives me the opportunity to
organize a creative approach to make others feel more comfortable. While being thoughtful
helps hold those communication relationships and that is what makes someone memorable.
3. Is it your ethical responsibility to be careful of the labels you give others and adapt your
communication to accommodate others? Why or Why not?
Our book, The Communication Age, says that “ethical responsibility is an interact with others in
way that promote the development of positive, healthy selves.” I do believe that we have an
ethical responsibility to be careful of the label we give others. Therefore, you need to be careful
in the way you speak and the way you present yourself. You need to be speaking the someone
with the correct maturity levels to accommodate others when speaking to them. You need to
make sure that you are saying things you want to be remembered by.
By saying the wrong thing, it can cause a label on someone, or yourself, that can last a long time.
Bully’s are probably the first interaction I had with this, and that is why the negative labels can
affect me sometimes. When I look back one some of these people, I still see them as a negative
person in my life. You want people to remember you as a good person and great communicator
and by doing this you do have that ethical responsibility of being careful about what you say
about someone, and how you are adapting your communication to accommodate others.