perception

What are some ways to make a
positive first impression? Photo by
fauxels from Pexels.
First and Last Impressions
The old saying “You never get a second chance to make a good impression” points to the fact that first impressions
matter. The brain is a predictive organ in that it wants to know, based on previous experiences and patterns, what
to expect next, and first impressions function to fill this need, allowing us to determine how we will proceed with
an interaction after only a quick assessment of the person with whom we are interacting (Hargie, 2011).
First impressions are enduring because of the primacy effect, which leads us
to place more value on the first information we receive about a person. So if
we interpret the first information we receive from or about a person as
positive, then a positive first impression will form and influence how we
respond to that person as the interaction continues. Likewise, negative
interpretations of information can lead us to form negative first impressions.
If you sit down at a restaurant and servers walk by for several minutes and no
one greets you, then you will likely interpret that negatively and not have a
good impression of your server when he finally shows up. This may lead you
to be short with the server, which may lead him to not be as attentive as he
normally would. At this point, a series of negative interactions has set into
motion a cycle that will be very difficult to reverse and make positive.
The recency effect leads us to put more weight on the most recent impression
we have of a person’s communication over earlier impressions. Even a
positive first impression can be tarnished by a negative final impression.
Imagine that a professor has maintained a relatively high level of credibility
with you over the course of the semester. She made a good first impression
by being organized, approachable, and interesting during the first days of class. The rest of the semester went
fairly well with no major conflicts. However, during the last week of the term, she didn’t have final papers graded
and ready to turn back by the time she said she would, which left you with some uncertainty about how well you
needed to do on the final exam to earn an A in the class. When you did get your paper back, on the last day of
class, you saw that your grade was much lower than you expected. If this happened to you, what would you write
on the instructor evaluation? Because of the recency effect, many students would likely give a disproportionate
amount of value to the professor’s actions in the final week of the semester, negatively skewing the evaluation,
which is supposed to be reflective of the entire semester. Even though the professor only returned one assignment
late, that fact is very recent in students’ minds and can overshadow the positive impression that formed many
weeks earlier.
Cultural Influences
Our cultural identities affect our perceptions. Sometimes we are conscious of the effects and sometimes we are
not. In either case, we tend to favor others who exhibit cultural traits that match up with our own. This tendency is
so strong that it often leads us to assume that people we like are more similar to us than they actually are. Knowing
more about how these forces influence our perceptions can help us become more aware of and competent about
the impressions we form of others.
Race, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, nationality, and age all affect the perceptions that we make. As
Chapter 2: Communication, Perception, and Identity 15

How we “read” and perceive art differs from culture to
culture. Photo by Vincent Tantardini on Unsplash.
we are socialized into various cultural identities, we internalize beliefs, attitudes, and values shared by others in
our cultural group. Unless we are exposed to various cultural groups and learn how others perceive us and the
world around them, we will likely have a narrow or naïve view of the world and assume that others see things the
way we do. Exposing yourself to and experiencing cultural differences in perspective doesn’t mean that you have
to change your worldview to match that of another cultural group. Instead, it may offer you a chance to better
understand why and how your viewpoints were constructed the way they were.
As we have learned, perception starts with information that comes in through our senses. How we perceive even
basic sensory information is influenced by our culture, as is illustrated in the following list:
• Sight. People in different cultures “read” art in
different ways, differing in terms of where they
start to look at an image and the types of
information they perceive and process.
• Sound. “Atonal” music in some Asian cultures is
considered displeasing by those who are not
accustomed to it.
• Touch. In some cultures, it would be very
offensive for a man to touch—even tap on the
shoulder—a woman who isn’t a relative.
• Taste. Tastes for foods vary greatly around the
world. “Stinky tofu,” which is a favorite snack of
people in Taipei, Taiwan’s famous night market, would likely be very off-putting in terms of taste and
smell to many foreign tourists.
• Smell. While US Americans spend considerable effort to mask natural body odor, which we typically
find unpleasant, with soaps, sprays, and lotions, some other cultures would not find unpleasant or even
notice what we consider “B.O.” Those same cultures may find an American’s “clean” (soapy,
perfumed, deodorized) smell unpleasant.
As we discussed earlier in the chapter, our brain processes information by putting it into categories and looking
for predictability and patterns. The previous examples have covered how we do this with sensory information, but
we also do this with people. When we categorize people, we generally view them as “like us” or “not like us.”
This simple us/them split affects subsequent interactions, including impressions and attributions. For example, we
tend to view people we perceive to be like us as more trustworthy, friendly, and honest than people we perceive to
be not like us (Brewer, 1999). We are also more likely to use internal attribution to explain negative behavior of
people we perceive to be different from us. These tendencies can have negative consequences, and later we will
discuss how forcing people into rigid categories leads to stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination.
2.2 Perceiving and Presenting Self
Just as our perception of others affects how we communicate, so does our perception of ourselves. But what
16 Keys to Communication

Our self-concept is influenced by how we view ourselves,
in addition to how others view us. Photo by Andrea
Piacquadio from Pexels.
influences our self-perception? How much of our self is a product of our own making and how much of it is
constructed based on how others react to us? How do we present ourselves to others in ways that maintain our
sense of self or challenge how others see us? We will begin to answer these questions in this part of the chapter,
as we explore self-concept and self-presentation.
Self-Concept
If I said, “Tell me who you are,” your answers would be
clues about your self-concept, or the overall idea of how a
person views themself. Each person has an overall self-
concept that might be encapsulated in a short list of
overarching characteristics that they find important. But
each person’s self-concept is also influenced by context,
meaning we think differently about ourselves depending on
the situation we are in. In some situations, personal
characteristics, such as our abilities, personality, and other
distinguishing features, will best describe who we are. You might consider yourself laid back, traditional, funny,
open-minded, or driven, or you might label yourself a leader or a thrill-seeker. In other situations, our self-concept
may be tied to group or cultural membership. For example, you might consider yourself a Southerner, a fraternity
brother, or a member of the track team.
Our self-concept is also formed through our interactions with others and their reactions to us. The concept of the
looking-glass self explains that we see ourselves reflected in other people’s reactions to us and then form our
self-concept based on how we believe other people see us (Cooley, 1902). This reflective process of building
our self-concept is based on what other people have actually said, such as “You’re a good listener,” and other
people’s actions, such as coming to you for advice. These thoughts evoke emotional responses that feed into our
self-concept. For example, you may think, “I’m glad that people can count on me to listen to their problems.”
We also develop our self-concept through comparisons to other people. Social comparison theory states that
we describe and evaluate ourselves in terms of how we compare to others. This includes comparisons on
characteristics like attractiveness, intelligence, athletic ability, and more. For example, you may judge yourself to
be more intelligent than your brother or less athletic than your best friend, and these judgments are incorporated
into your self-concept. This process of comparison and evaluation isn’t always a bad thing, but it can have
negative consequences if our reference group isn’t appropriate. Reference groups are the groups we use for social
comparison, and they typically change based on what we are evaluating. In terms of athletic ability, many people
choose unreasonable reference groups with which to engage in social comparison. If a man wants to get into
better shape and starts an exercise routine, he may be discouraged by his difficulty keeping up with the aerobics
instructor or running partner and judge himself as inferior, which could negatively affect his self-concept. Using
as a reference group people who have only recently started a fitness program but have shown progress could help
maintain a more accurate and hopefully positive self-concept.
Chapter 2: Communication, Perception, and Identity 17

Figure 2.1 The Relationship Between Self-Concept,
Self-Efficacy, and Self-Esteem
Think of the ways you engage in
self-presentation, both in-person and
online. Photo by Hamann La from
Pexels.
Social comparisons can affect our self-esteem, or the
judgements and evaluations we make about our self-
concept. If I again prompted you to “Tell me who you are,”
and then asked you to evaluate (label as good/bad, positive/
negative, desirable/undesirable) each of the things you
listed about yourself, I would get clues about your self-
esteem. Generally, some people are more likely to evaluate
themselves positively, while others are more likely to
evaluate themselves negatively (Brockner, 1988). More
specifically, our self-esteem varies across our life span and
across contexts.
Self-esteem isn’t the only factor that contributes to our self-
concept; perceptions about our competence also play a role
in developing our sense of self. Self-efficacy refers to the
judgments people make about their ability to perform a task within a specific context (Bandura, 1997). As you
can see in Figure 2.1, judgments about our self-efficacy influence our self-esteem, which influences our self-
concept.
Self-Presentation
How we perceive ourselves manifests in how we present ourselves to others.
Self-presentation is the process of strategically concealing or revealing
personal information in order to influence others’ perceptions (Human et al.,
2012). We engage in this process daily and for different reasons. Although
people occasionally intentionally deceive others in the process of self-
presentation, in general we try to make a good impression while remaining
authentic.
Numerous public examples demonstrate that we stand to lose quite a bit if we
are caught intentionally misrepresenting ourselves. In 2022, New York
congressman-elect George Santos faced public outrage after it was
discovered that he had lied about his job experience and college education on
the campaign trail. In 2012, the dean of admissions for the prestigious
Massachusetts Institute of Technology was dismissed after it became known
that she had only attended one year of college and had falsely indicated that
she had a bachelor’s and master’s degree (Webber & Korn, 2012). Such incidents clearly show that although
people can get away with such false self-presentation for a while, the eventual consequences of being found out
are dire. As communicators, we sometimes engage in more subtle forms of inauthentic self-presentation. For
example, a person may state or imply that they know more about a subject or situation than they actually do in
order to seem smart or “in the loop.” During a speech, a speaker could work on polished and competent delivery
to distract from a lack of substantive content. These cases of strategic self-presentation may not ever be found out,
but communicators should still avoid them as they do not live up to the standards of ethical communication.
18 Keys to Communication

Life-changing events, like a graduation, can quickly alter
our self-perception. Photo by RODNAE Productions from
Pexels.
In general, we strive to present a public image that matches up with our self-concept, but we can also use
self-presentation strategies to enhance our self-concept (Hargie, 2011). When we present ourselves in order to
evoke a positive evaluative response, we are engaging in self-enhancement. In the pursuit of self-enhancement,
a person might try to be as appealing as possible in a particular area or with a particular person to gain feedback
that will enhance one’s self-esteem. For example, a singer might train and practice for weeks before singing in
front of a well-respected vocal coach but not invest as much effort in preparing to sing in front of her friends.
Although positive feedback from her friends could be beneficial, positive feedback from an experienced singer
could significantly enhance her self-concept. Self-enhancement can be productive and achieved competently, or it
can be used inappropriately. Using self-enhancement behaviors just to gain the approval of others or out of self-
centeredness may lead people to communicate in ways that are perceived as phony or overbearing and end up
making an unfavorable impression (Sosik et al., 2002).
2.3 Improving Perception
So far, we have learned about how we perceive others and ourselves. Now we will turn to a discussion of how
to improve our perception. Our self-perception can be improved by becoming aware of self-fulfilling prophecies
and by engaging in supportive interpersonal relationships. How we perceive others can be improved by becoming
aware of stereotypes and prejudice and engaging in perception checking.
Improving Self-Perception
Our self-perceptions can and do change. Recall that we have an overall self-concept and self-esteem that
are relatively stable, and we also have context-specific self-perceptions. Context-specific self-perceptions vary
depending on the person with whom we are interacting, our emotional state, and the subject matter being
discussed. Becoming aware of the process of self-perception and the various components of our self-concept
(which you have already started to do by studying this chapter) will help you understand and improve your self-
perceptions.
Since self-concept and self-esteem are so subjective and
personal, it would be inaccurate to say that someone’s self-
concept is “right” or “wrong.” Instead, we can identify
negative and positive aspects of self-perceptions as well as
discuss common barriers to forming accurate and positive
self-perceptions. We can also identify common patterns that
people experience that interfere with their ability to monitor,
understand, and change their self-perceptions. Changing
your overall self-concept or self-esteem is not an easy task
given that these are overall reflections on who we are and
how we judge ourselves that are constructed over many
interactions. A variety of life-changing events can relatively
Chapter 2: Communication, Perception, and Identity 19

Creating and maintaining supportive interpersonal
relationships is a key to improving self-perception.
Photo by nappy from Pexels.
quickly alter our self-perceptions. Think of how your view of self changed when you moved from high school
to college. Similarly, other people’s self-perceptions likely change when they enter into a committed relationship,
have a child, make a geographic move, or start a new job.
Aside from experiencing life-changing events, we can make slower changes to our self-perceptions with concerted
efforts aimed at becoming more competent communicators through self-monitoring and reflection. Let’s now
discuss some suggestions to help avoid common barriers to accurate and positive self-perceptions and patterns of
behavior that perpetuate negative self-perception cycles.
Beware of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Self-fulfilling prophecies are thought and action patterns in which a person’s false belief triggers a behavior that
makes the initial false belief actually or seemingly come true (Guyll et al., 2010). For example, let’s say a student’s
biology lab instructor is a Chinese person who speaks English as a second language. The student falsely believes
that the instructor will not be a good teacher because he speaks English with an accent. Because of this belief, the
student doesn’t attend class regularly and doesn’t listen actively when she does attend. Because of these behaviors,
the student fails the biology lab, which then reinforces her original belief that the instructor wasn’t a good teacher.
Although the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies was originally developed to be applied to social inequality
and discrimination, it has since been applied in many other contexts, including interpersonal communication.
This research has found that some people are chronically insecure, meaning they are very concerned about
being accepted by others but constantly feel that other people will dislike them. This can manifest in relational
insecurity, which is again based on feelings of inferiority resulting from social comparison with others perceived
to be more secure and superior. Such people often end up reinforcing their belief that others will dislike them
because of the behaviors triggered by their irrational belief.
Take the following scenario as an example: An insecure
person assumes that his date will not like him. During the
date he doesn’t engage in much conversation, discloses
negative information about himself, and exhibits anxious
behaviors. Because of these behaviors, his date forms a
negative impression and suggests they not see each other
again, reinforcing his original belief that the date wouldn’t
like him. The example shows how a pattern of thinking can
lead to a pattern of behavior that reinforces the thinking, and
so on. Luckily, experimental research shows that self-
affirmation techniques can be successfully used to intervene
in such self-fulfilling prophecies. Thinking positive
thoughts and focusing on personality strengths can stop this
negative cycle of thinking and has been shown to have
positive effects on academic performance, weight loss, and interpersonal relationships (Stinston et al., 2011).
Create and Maintain Supportive Interpersonal Relationships
Aside from giving yourself affirming messages to help with self-perception, it is important to find interpersonal
support. Although most people have at least some supportive relationships, many people also have people in their
20 Keys to Communication

lives who range from negative to toxic. When people find themselves in negative relational cycles, whether it is
with friends, family, or romantic partners, it is difficult to break out of those cycles. But we can all make choices
to be around people who will help us be who we want to be and not be around people who hinder our self-
progress. This notion can also be taken to the extreme, however. It would not be wise to surround yourself with
people who only validate you and do not constructively challenge you, because this too could lead to distorted
self-perceptions.
Overcoming Barriers to Perceiving Others
There are many barriers that prevent us from competently perceiving others. While some are more difficult
to overcome than others, they can all be addressed by raising our awareness of the influences around us and
committing to monitoring, reflecting on, and changing some of our communication habits.
Beware of Stereotypes and Prejudice
Stereotypes are sets of beliefs that we develop about groups, which we then apply to individuals from that group.
Stereotypes are organizing patterns that are taken too far, as they reduce and ignore a person’s individuality
and the diversity present within a larger group of people. Stereotypes can be based on cultural identities,
physical appearance, behavior, speech, beliefs, and values, among other things, and are often caused by a lack of
information about the target person or group (Guyll et al., 2010). Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral,
but all run the risk of lowering the quality of our communication.
While the negative effects of stereotypes are pretty straightforward in that they devalue people and prevent us
from adapting and revising our schemata, positive stereotypes also have negative consequences. For example, the
“model minority” stereotype has been applied to some Asian cultures in the United States. Seemingly positive
stereotypes of Asian Americans as hardworking, intelligent, and willing to adapt to “mainstream” culture are not
always received as positive and can lead some people within these communities to feel objectified, ignored, or
overlooked.
Stereotypes can also lead to double standards that point to larger cultural and social inequalities. There are many
more words to describe a sexually active woman than a man, and the words used for women are disproportionately
negative, while those used for men are more positive. Since stereotypes are generally based on a lack of
information, we must take it upon ourselves to gain exposure to new kinds of information and people, which
will likely require us to get out of our comfort zones. When we do meet people, we should base the impressions
we make on describable behavior rather than inferred or secondhand information. When stereotypes negatively
influence our overall feelings and attitudes about a person or group, prejudiced thinking results.
Prejudice is negative feelings or attitudes toward people based on their identity or identities. Prejudice can have
individual or widespread negative effects. At the individual level, a hiring manager may not hire a young man with
a physical disability (even though that would be illegal if it were the only reason), which negatively affects that
one man. However, if pervasive cultural thinking that people with physical disabilities are mentally deficient leads
hiring managers all over the country to make similar decisions, then the prejudice has become a social injustice.
Chapter 2: Communication, Perception, and Identity 21

Engage in Perception Checking
Perception checking is a strategy to help us monitor our reactions to and perceptions about people and
communication. There are some internal and external strategies we can use to engage in perception checking.
In terms of internal strategies, review the various influences on perception that we have learned about in this
chapter and always be willing to ask yourself, “What is influencing the perceptions I am making right now?”
Even being aware of what influences are acting on our perceptions makes us more aware of what is happening
in the perception process. In terms of external strategies, we can use other people to help verify our perceptions.
The cautionary adage “Things aren’t always as they appear” is useful when evaluating your own perceptions.
Sometimes it’s a good idea to bounce your thoughts off someone, especially if the perceptions relate to some high-
stakes situation.