What Is Perception and What Influences It?

  1. 11-4 Describe perception and the factors that influence it.

“L ke y ur b ain, the n w L nd Rov r autom tic lly adj sts to anyth ng.”59 This advertisement for a Land Rover SUV illustrates the perceptual process at work. You were likely able to read the sentence even with the missing letters because you recognized the word patterns and organized and interpreted them in a way that made sense.

Perception is a process by which we give meaning to our environment by organizing and interpreting sensory impressions. Research on perception consistently demonstrates that individuals may look at the same thing yet perceive it differently. One manager, for instance, can interpret the fact that her assistant regularly takes several days to make important decisions as evidence that the assistant is slow, disorganized, and afraid to make decisions. Another manager with the same assistant might interpret the same tendency as evidence that the assistant is thoughtful, thorough, and deliberate. The first manager would probably evaluate her assistant negatively; the second manager would probably evaluate the person positively. The point is that none of us see reality. We interpret what we see and call it reality. And, of course, as the example shows, we behave according to our perceptions.

What Influences Perception?

How do we explain the fact that Moranda, a marketing supervisor for a large commercial petroleum products organization, age 52, noticed Ambrose’s nose ring during his employment interview, and Sean, a human resources recruiter, age 23, didn’t? A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in (1) the perceiver, (2) the object or target being perceived, or (3) the context of the situation in which the perception is made.

  1. When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that individual’s personal characteristics will heavily influence the interpretation. These personal characteristics include attitudes, personality, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations.

  2. The characteristics of the target being observed can also affect what is perceived. Loud people are more likely than quiet people to be noticed in a group. So, too, are extremely attractive or unattractive individuals. Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background also influences perception (see Exhibit 11–3 for an example), as does our tendency to group close things and similar things together.

    Exhibit 11–3

    Perceptual Challenges—What Do You See?

    A set of three optical illusion images are presented, based on Rubin’s Vase.

  3. The context in which we see objects or events is also important. The time at which an object or event is seen can influence attention, as can location, lighting, temperature, and any number of other situational factors.

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