Lecture 3. Speech as communication

1. The factors determining interpersonal perception: factor of superiority, attractiveness, attitudes.

2. The mechanisms of human perception and understanding: identification, reflexion, stereotyping.

3. Problems in communication and communication barriers. Communication barriers: aesthetic, intellectual, motivational, moral, emotional. Loneliness, autism and estrangement in communication. Shyness as a communication obstacle.

1.The factors determining interpersonal perception: factor of superiority, attractiveness, attitudes.

Interpersonal perception is an area of research in social psychology which examines the beliefs that interacting people have about each other. This area differs from social cognition and person perception by being interpersonal rather than intrapersonal (глибоко личный), and thus requiring the interaction of at least two actual people.

I explored some basic communication principles in my column in the Nov. 12 issue of Biz Times Milwaukee. In this column, I’ll extend those principles by discussing the process of interpersonal perception.

Different people have different communication skills. This can influence their relationships.

Another way that people differ is the way they perceive the world. It is tempting (заставлять) to assume (принять) that human behavior is a response to objective reality but as the comedian Lily Tomlin has observed, “Reality is nothing more than a collective hunch.(догадка)” The same stimulus may be present in our environment, but what we do with that stimulus is affected by individual differences.

How can we wind up with such diverse (разнообразные) and even contradictory (противоречащие) impressions? Chalk it up to individual differences in perception, which can be defined as, “the process by which we select, organize, and evaluate the stimuli in our environment to make it meaningful for ourselves.”

Perception serves as a filter or gate-keeper so that we are not overwhelmed by all the stimuli that bombard us. A key aspect of the perception process is selective attention. We simply do not see or hear everything that goes on around us. 

Both internal and external factors determine what sensory impressions we pay attention to. Internal factors are factors that are internal to us (i.e., our internal frame of reference) and include elements such as motives, values, interests, attitudes (отношение), past experiences, and expectations. External factors are factors that are external to us (i.e., characteristics of the target we perceive) and include elements such as motion, intensity, size, novelty (новинка), and salience (отчетливость).

So, the first step in the perceptual process is noticing or attending (следить) to some stimulus. And, influenced by the factors discussed above, each of us will attend selectively to those parts of the stimulus that are deemed (считать) to be most relevant, stimulating, etc.

The second step in the perceptual process is the organization of the stimulus that has been perceived. Our thought processes automatically structure stimuli into patterns that make sense to the perceiver. One example of such patterns are cause-and-effect relationships. It is easier to see cause-and-effect relationships in the physical world than it is with social interactions and human behavior. Nevertheless, we organize social stimuli in the same patterns. Specifically, we tend to organize stimuli into schemas. Schemas are mental maps of different concepts, events, or types of stimuli that contain both the attributes (признаки, свойства) of the concept and the relationship among the attributes. 

Once they have been established, schemas affect how we handle future information because they determine what we attend to and remember.

The third step in the perceptual process is evaluation or interference (вмешательство). We interpret the stimulus in a subjective, rather than objective fashion. Our conclusions are biased by our individual attitudes, needs, experiences, expectations, goals, values, and physical condition at the time. Not only do interpretations differ from person to person, but the same person can have diverse perceptions of the same stimulus at different points in time. 

These perceptual differences and variations can lead to misinterpretation and damage relationships. Being sensitive to these errors, therefore, is critical. As you interact with others, keep in mind these three major sources of perceptual errors:

1. Subconscious blinders (Подсознательные шоры): We use our own assumptions (предположения) to interpret the events and behaviors of others.

2. Lack of awareness (Нехватка понимания): We are unaware of our own values and norms and the way that others perceive us.

3. Projected similarity (Спроектированное подобие): We assume (принимаем) that other people are more similar to us than they really are or that situations are similar when they are not.

 

The underlying pattern in these processes is one of: (1) assumption or belief, (2) leading to behavior that is congruent with the assumption, followed by (3) observation of consequences, which, to the extent that perception is occurring, leads to (4) confirmation of the original assumption or belief.

Testing the validity or desirability of this conceptual process is difficult. People tend (склоны) to strive to preserve (сохранить) the “face” that others present to them. When people act “out of character,” social pressures are mobilized to force them back into their roles. In social situations, therefore, we tend to act in such a way that maintain our own self-image and the self-image we see others presenting.

This conservative interaction norm (консервативная норма взаимодействия) dictates that we cannot frankly tell others our impressions of them if these impressions differ from the face they are presenting. It also acts as an obstacle (препятствие) to our testing with others whether or not we are projecting the kind of self-image we think we are. “Do you see me the same way I see myself?” In short, this constrains the kinds of relationships we can build because we cannot seem to break through and forge (подделывать) genuine (подлиные), reciprocal (взаимные) relationships with others based on honesty, sincerity, and candor.

 So, what’s the point of all of this? The point is that if we truly want to improve workplace communication, then we have to move toward interpersonal genuineness (подлинность) and authenticity. “Understanding self and others,” therefore, emerges as a foundational competency that all organizational members must seek to master, especially leaders, who are the principal architects of the organization’s “other bottom line” (i.e., its corporate culture – “How we do things around here”). 

When a person is interpersonally closed off and unaware, communication and relationship building are impaired (ослабленный). Conversely (наоборот), the more we know about ourselves and allow others to know us, the greater the potential for effective communication and relationships. When trust is established, people feel safe to be themselves in the group and to perceive others as they really are.

To move in the direction of openness requires that others give us feedback as to how they see us. Once again, trust is critical – so that people will risk telling us and so we will not react defensively to what they say.

Ultimately (В конечном счете только), it is only as we move toward assertive communication and open engagement with others that true sharing occurs. Only then, can truly meaningful relationships be forged (сколачивать).

Attitudes

An attitude is the tendency to respond positively or negatively to a particular object. Attitudes affect a wide range of behaviors.( Отношения затрагивают широкий диапазон поведений.) Most social psychologists see attitudes as composed of three components: cognitive component (beliefs), affective (эмоциональные) components (feelings) and behavioral components (actions). However, it is often difficult to predict a specific behavior from a person’s beliefs or feelings about an object. Cognitive theories suggest that the likelihood of attitude behavior-consistency depends on the importance of the attitude, subjective social norms, perceived control over the behavior and prior direct experience with the attitude object.

Attitudes can be learned through modeling as well as through classical or operant conditioning. They are also subject to the mere-exposure effect: all else being equal, people develop greater liking for a new object the more often they are exposed to it.

The effectiveness of a persuasive message in changing attitudes is influenced by the characteristics of the person who communicates the message, by its content and by the audience receiving it.

The elaboration likelihood model suggests that attitude change can occur through either the peripheral or the central route, depending on a person’s ability to carefully consider an argument and their motivation for doing so. Accordingly, different messages will produce attitude change under different circumstances. Another approach is to change a person’s behavior in the hope that attitudes will be adjusted to match the behavior.

Cognitive dissonance theory (теория внутреннего конфликта) holds that if inconsistency between attitude and behavior creates discomfort related to a person’s self-concept, the attitude may change in order to reduce the conflict.