Perception in a Diverse World

A few generations ago, people may have gone months without coming into contact with someone from a different village or neighborhood. A wheelchair-bound child may have been unable to attend public schools. In parts of this country, white and black Americans were not permitted to sit at the same lunch counter. Today, people from all walks of life learn, work, and play together. And through technology, we can communicate with others across vast distances. A student in Louisville, Kentucky, can chat online with a student from Bangladesh. A salesperson in Omaha, Nebraska, may work full-time with clients in Tokyo. In order to communicate effectively, we must stretch our perceptions to “see through the eyes, hearts, and minds of people from cultures” other than our own (Chen & Starosta, 2008, p. 215). In this section, we do precisely that by examining the cultural context and perceptual barriers.