How we perceive ourselves and influence others’ perception Essay

To begin with the first principle of, how people perceive the world in different ways. Of course, each single person has his or her own way of thinking and understanding the world. Evidently, this individualistic way of thinking has been predisposed upon every one of us by forces such as: physical condition, cultural background and social roles. These invisible forces disturb the flow of successful communication. As such, my perception will be different if I am not feeling well; or in my culture, what is considered good and important may considered bad and unimportant for others. For example, eye contact is important for Canadian but I think it is a sign of disrespectful to look into one’s eyes. Social role is another challenge for successful communication, for example, when entering into a business contract, handshakes are not acceptable anymore, the two parties must sign a formal agreement documents. The second principle is our self-concept, the perception each individual ho lds of himself and herself; and, it has a powerful effect on one’s communication behaviour. In order to communicate with others, first, one should know who he or she is? This idea refers to one’s personality, physical characteristics, cultural identity, and religion. For example, I am a tall, male, about 30 years old, a student, and believe in God; among all, the most important part of my self-concept is my religion. For example, I feel strongly religious and I proclaim that I am proud of being an Ismaili Muslim. Sometimes, I am fully confident about my religious views and expect others to accept my remarks and believe. The strong feeling that I have about my religious believe has a powerful effect on the way I communicate; often, People start to reject my remarks and turn away from the conversation. The third principle is the messages we send can shape others’ self –concepts and therefore influence their communication. In fact, each of us possess several self-concept. In contrast, presenting self is a public image and it is the way we want to present ourselves in public, in a socially acceptable image, to influence others to believe. We try to maintain our own identity and communicating in ways that, support identities that others are trying to present. For example, if a friend of me barrows my book and forget to return It on time, he might apologise for the delay; however, I would say, it is ok or not a problem; even if, I need the book urgently. This example shows that I am a nice person and does not criticize  others. The last principle is the images we present to the world varies from one situation to another. Definitely, the physical appearance and behaviours of a person plays a big role in a successful communication. Our clothing, hair style and the way we walk and talk present our images to people around us. It is important to know that the images we present to others varies from one situation to another. For example, when I am visiting a friend who are in a terrible situation; I am trying to present an image of myself, in a way to, not make him upset. Or if I am going for a job interview, I will try to present the maximum professional image I can. Over all, the way we perceive ourselves and others, and the messages and images that we send to influence others perceptions, are thing that we normally living and practicing them in everyday life but mostly not noticing them.