Summary

• In selection, the first step of perception, attention is focused on certain stimuli within the environment. The degree to which certain stimuli attract your attention is known as salience, because when something is salient, it seems especially significant. We view aspects of interpersonal communication as salient under three conditions:
  • The communicator behaves in a visually and audibly stimulating fashion.
  • Our goals or expectations lead us to view it as significant.
  • The communication deviates from our expectations.
• During organization, information that has been selected is structured into a coherent pattern.
  • Part of organization is punctuation, the structuring of information into a chronological sequence that matches your experience. (For example, your romantic partner smiled at you, and then frowned when you did not smile in response.)
  • Disagreements over punctuation are a common source of interpersonal conflict. (In the previous example, you might consider yourself blameless if you failed to reply because did not notice your partner’s smile.)
  • You can avoid conflict by understanding how your organization and punctuation of information differ from those of other people.
• Interpretation means assigning meaning to the information you’ve selected.
  • To interpret meaning, we rely on familiar information or schemata—mental structures containing information that defines concepts’ characteristics. (For example, your schemata for laughter might incline you to interpret laughter as a sign of happiness, even in strangers.)
  • Creating explanations for behavior involves making attributions. Attributions can be either internal (such as character or personality traits) or external (outside influences on communication that are unrelated to personal qualities). Attributions are like assumptions of motivation.
    • Misguided attributions, even well-meaning ones, can lead to interpersonal conflict.
  • Fundamental attribution error, a common perceptual mistake, involves presuming that others’ behavior is based solely on the kind of people they are (internal causes), rather than social or environmental forces. (For example, you might assume that a work supervisor with whom you do not get along gives you poor performance reviews because the supervisor is cruel, discounting the possibility that your work performance is lacking.)
    • This mistake is particularly common in online interactions.
  • The actor-observer effect, a related error, occurs when people blame external attributions for their behavior. (For example, you might justify your own rudeness if you feel you inhabit a hostile climate.)
  • Self-serving bias refers to taking credit for success by making an internal attribution; this is driven by ego protection.
• Uncertainty Reduction Theory explains the compulsion to seek information that makes others’ communication seem explicable and predictable.
  • The information can be gained through passive strategies (e.g., observation), active strategies (e.g., asking third parties for information), or interactive strategies (e.g., direct questioning).

• Culture is a major influence on perception. We draw upon our schemata, learned via culture, to interpret communication.
  • Competent interpersonal communicators recognize that communication is interpreted differently from culture to culture.
• Culture also influences how we categorize people as ingroupers (similar to ourselves) and outgroupers (different from ourselves).
  • We tend to feel most comfortable with, and to share such valuable resources as time and energy with, ingroupers.
  • We tend to form more positive impressions of those we perceive as ingroupers and more negative impressions of outgroupers.
    • Making surface-level assumptions about whether someone is an ingrouper or outgrouper can lead to mistakes.
• Gender also affects perception. Despite popular assumptions that men are inherently logical and women are inherently emotional, communication scholars argue that men and women communicate interpersonally in very similar ways.
  • Changing perception about gender requires challenging assumptions.
• Personality is an individual’s characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and acting, based on five primary traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.. (To remember these traits, use the acronym OCEAN.)
  • We evaluate people’s personality traits positively or negatively based on how we feel about the same trait in ourselves.
    • To avoid this preoccupation, strive to perceive people broadly.
  • Implicit personality theories are personal beliefs about different types of personalities and the ways in which traits cluster together. For example, if you meet someone who is friendly, you may assume the person to be outgoing because the qualities “go together.”
    • Relying on such theories can lead to inaccurate assessments.

• Gestalts are overall impressions of people, either positive or negative. They are based upon filtering select personality traits through information in our schemata.
  • Gestalts form quickly, which is why “first impressions” matter.
  • When Gestalts are formed, they are more likely to be positive than negative. This effect is known as the positivity bias.
  • The fact that negative information holds greater weight is attributable to a pattern called the negativity effect.
    • Negative information seems more authentic because we assume people do not intentionally share negative information.
    • In some cases, the negativity effect can protect us from unethical people who deceptively present positive qualities.
• The halo and horn effects occur when positive and negative attributions are made about individuals whose Gestalts are positive and negative, respectively.
• We develop algebraic impressions by carefully evaluating and comparing/contrasting each new thing we learn about a person. This provides more accurate and flexible perceptions than those gained via gestalts.
• Stereotyping occurs when people are lumped into social groups and then evaluated based on schemata related to those groups. We stereotype because it streamlines the perception process, but doing so leads to flawed impressions.
• Stereotyping doesn’t automatically lead to negative outcomes.
• Stereotyping is almost impossible to avoid.
• To overcome stereotypes, critically assess your beliefs about groups, especially those you dislike. Then educate yourself about these groups.

• By practicing empathy, or truly trying to identify with others, perception can become more accurate. Empathizing involves two components: perspective-taking (the ability to see things from someone else’s vantage point) and empathic concern (becoming aware of how someone else feels).
• The five-step process of perception-checking involves (1) checking punctuation, (2) checking knowledge, (3) checking attributions, (4) checking perceptual influences, and (5) checking impressions.