Perceptual Analysis of Our Lives - Essay Example

Perceptual Analysis Relationships are an important part of our lives. It is difficult when we do not have people around us. However, at some point relationships are strained by the way we perceive things. Every individual has his or her own unique worldview different from everybody else. In this essay, I will put into perspective of the concepts learnt in perception as it relates with a strained relationship I had in the past with my cousin whom we lived in the same house with. It was apparent that our beliefs and worldviews were different, but the cause of the disagreements was obvious; we wanted conformity to one another’s perceptions. In particular, the four stages of perception relationship namely; selection, organization, interpretation and negotiation had an impact on our relationship. There are issues that caught my attention about my cousin. She is extremely talkative and myself do not like someone who has so many words, till at times am unable to stop them. When I get fed up she notices but changes tact easily through getting to tell me of interesting things that definitively I will give them my ears. Contrary to my concern about my body image, my cousin does not bother how they look, they are just ignorant. When I take my time in the mirror, they are usually mad at me and think that I am wasting time. Having these two different views, the arrangement of our information is varied. While my view of being talkative as bad to her that is the best thing that they enjoy doing. On the other hand, my time in the mirror is nothing to her is not important and to me it means a so much. Our worldviews were different, our interpretations of each other’s needs and desires was not there. To me talking was a waste of my precious time that I could spend doing something else, sometimes feeling that what they had to tell me did not make any sense. On the other hand, adequately preparing myself is a thorn in flesh to my cousin. This means the way we perceive these two issues made us to differ greatly. It came a time when a point of compromise was reached, such that we began becoming comfortable with one another. This was facilitated by the fact that we were constantly together the two of us. I was realizing my personal biasness and attitudes while hers were also dawning to her. She could not ask me and could not hurry me up when am checking on myself. Likewise, I ceased getting mad at them and began enjoying their conversations. However, getting to the reality of our perception differences was not easy, we confronted until we found that it did not benefit each one of us. The option was allow one another to do what pleased them. This was the point of compromise. The different perceptions toward talking and paying attention to body image are derived from our family backgrounds. The difference in the way we have been brought up facilitated the adoption of different views. My cousin’s family they are very talkative and spend most of their time discussing and talking. This behaviour has its source from there. On the other hand, I have lived with my mother on the better part of my life. She is much conserved and prefers being quiet. Though my dad used to talk, my mother’s silence could make him have few words. Therefore, our perceptions towards being loud are very different and that is why we found ourselves not coping with one another. Several tendencies came out so well in the way we interacted. The first one was the self-serving view that one was right. My cousin complained and was somehow forcing me to believe that considering my body image was not necessary. This was their view that they wanted to impose on me. On the other hand, I believed that one should keep on checking themselves and see where they need to improve. Both our selfish persuasions made us to collide. The other tendency is that we did not recognize as fast that we were different individuals. The assumption that we arbor similarity and should behave in the way acceptable to the other party was utterly biased. There are various statements that my cousin could utter and make me sick. However, I got used to them and almost forgot what they had to say because they will say it irrespective of my opinion. At one point, I remember telling me that, “you look beautiful, let’s go.” This statement can be perceived in different forms. The first one is that, “who told you that my concern is beauty in what I am doing”. On the other hand, there is the perception of “is it important for you to be concerned with what I am doing.” However, seeking a clarification can facilitate an amicable settlement of the issue at hand. The clarification would come through a statement like “or what do you think?” My style of self-disclosure was intentional. This was to facilitate the attainment of a common understanding; this was a beneficial aspect to both of us. However, on the other hand being intentional could make them feel intimidated. Based on their character this was the best approach because my cousin is a person that is able to speak out their genuine concerns without feeling intimidated. Awe derived more benefits from the understanding that we have different perceptions and need to accept one another irrespective of the differences. Through our biased perception, we exhibited poor communication skills because we all wanted to be heard and not to say. For effectiveness in communication, there should be the sender of a given message and the receiver. When the parties in a communication become senders, then there is a communication breakdown. Effective communication also requires proper decoding of a message that is sent by the receiver. When I flash back, I realize that our varied perceptions made us not to have effective communication. Perception can greatly affect the decoding of information hence communication. Read More