The Phenomenon of Perception It’s impossible to decipher how other people view your image. It’s a hypothesis, an educated guess. Projected images can sometimes be misunderstood, viewed as negative, self-serving transparencies. In my experience a large segment of the population attempts to portray a false image of someone they are not, but someone they would like to emulate. Without a solid relationship with someone, it can be difficult to decide if their image is real or delusional. I have been conscious of self image since my youth. My life has provided me with many challenges and opportunities that have resulted in the evolution of my image that has transitioned from a rebellious teenager to a 55-year-old displaced worker going back to college. My earliest recollection of self image would take me back to elementary school and the problem of what to wear to class the first day. Would I fit in or be ridiculed for my shirt, pants or shoes? This was an early lesson watching people judged by their clothes and physical appearance. The phenomenon of image changed dramatically when I reached high school. I believe high school is a micro society in itself with personal appearance high on the list of things that are coveted. I wanted to fit in but didn’t want to compromise my individuality regarding dress, hair style and choice of peer group. During my high school years my image was ever-changing. I excelled in sports and was viewed as an athlete. On the other hand, my long hair gave me the image of a free spirit. I enjoyed hanging out with the athletes but also found myself drawn to another element; people who smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol and used drugs. I looked at these individuals as taboo, but glamorous at the same ti... ... middle of paper ... ...home and was married. I was a responsible adult and had an image I found rather refreshing. It wasn’t as dull as I perceived. I embraced my career and lifestyle. Taking on new responsibilities at home and in the workplace, I found myself enjoying my new image. Although I purchased a sports utility vehicle and a boat, I found myself less conscious of self image I was happy and comfortable in my own skin. I am now confronted with a new image dilemma. I was displaced from my job with the City of Portland after 17 years. My current image is a 55-year-old college student, an image most people, including myself, are unfamiliar with. I am embracing the educational opportunity and finding my fellow students helpful and friendly. I am right where I want to be in life. My new image will take care of itself. I just hope they accept AARP Discount Cards at the cafeteria.
One of the most common American proverbs is the expression to “never judge a book by its cover”. This saying, used for more than just books, is commonly used to express that what is on the appearance of something might not always show that things true nature or content. Even so people will often forget this fact and rely on their own perception. So what does this say about perception? To Victor Hugo author of the novel Les Misérables this would probable show that human perception is flawed and that people trust it more than they should. In Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables he suggests that by following only our perception will not always lead to the truth, with the characters of Thénardier, Jean Valjean, and Inspecter Javert.
Psychological promotion and effects of negative body image can be further explained through support in theoretical foundation (Tylka & Subich, 2004). Several theories have explored the dynamics of personal identity in adherence to the pressures of conformity (Boone et al., 2011; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Kopp & Gembreck, 2011;Macdonald & Palfai, 2007; Schrick et. al, 2012; Thompson & Stice, 2001; Tylka & Subich, 2011). Specifically in relation to body image, “sociocult...
Being judged on your appearance by our peers is a scary thought; especially for kids. In his short story, “The Hockey Sweater”, Roch Carrier affirms that “it’s not what you put on your back that matters, it’s what you put inside your head” (Carrier 5). Carrier believes this because people will start being more concerned with others opinions, causing an under-developed self-identity, and creates more closed-minded people. Carrier’s story is about an experience he had at the age of ten years old, where his mother notices he grew out of his hockey sweater and decided to order a new Montreal Canadiens sweater but instead he received a Toronto Maple Leaf’s sweater and was treated differently by others. This short story is especially important during
Hoover, Shelby. “Pop Culture’s Effect on Body Image| Popular Culture.” Popular Culture. N.p., 21 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Body image is a mental representation that is socially constructed and impacts a large majority of people. Body image is subject to internal and external distortions (Atkins & Cataldo, 2013). For example, how one visualizes him or herself may conflict with how the world perceives them. Throughout history, individuals have idolized and categorized beauty. Beauty is a socially constructed concept that has different standards depending on the culture and time period. In the 21st century media, celebrities, and fitness fads significantly influence women and men’s attitudes toward their bodies. Body image is absorbed through a series of positive and negative messages that we acquire consciously and unconsciously throughout our lifespan. During the
Perception is a manner of selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events, situations, and or activities. The movie “Inside Out” is a perfect example of how perception affects our communication; it shows exactly how the process of selection, organization, and interpretation correlated to each other.
Critical thinking is the process in which one challenges their emotive, self-centered way of thinking. It causes one to test their own assumptions and question their reasoning. Critical thinking is the process in which one mentally explores deeper than the superficial matters at hand into the deeper layers in order to find out what the real issues are. Successful critical thinking is a process that allows one to creatively problem solve, seek innovative solutions, and essentially "think outside of the box." It also allows one to become more open minded to various situations. Logic and perception both play a role in critical thinking. However, when it comes to weighing their beneficial impact on the critical thinking process, logic and perception are by no means equal. While logic is firmly rooted in reason, perceptions are just as firmly rooted in one's senses, and can easily be corrupted. Therefore, perception is certainly not reality. This is a lesson that I had the opportunity to have reinforced in a recent in-house promotion at work.
Research in psychology today seems to be drawn towards particular fields of interest especially when it comes to understanding human behavior. One of the most common research topics for social psychology is body image and the perceptions that are related to age groups, genders, and ethnicities. Young people today are pressured by society to make physical appearance a dominant factor in their everyday lives, and the pressure is found not only through media influence but friends and family as well (Pavica, 2010). These pressures can affect many different aspects of a person’s life and significantly influence their actions. The aspects affected by body image can include popularity among peers, social comfort, and the attitudes an individual comes to commit to behavior (Lewis & Rosenblum, 1999).
A person who has a strong awareness in knowing at him or her might affect the way others perceive in one self. Embracing the intelligence of our own and appreciating other’s perceptions gives us a better insight of our personal experience to become a better person. In “The Eyes of the Skin,” Pallasmaa argues that individuals rely too greatly on their eyesight, result in an adjustment of our perception to build structure such as architectures: consequently, modifies the reality in a depended way solely on vision. In “The Mind’s Eye,” Sacks believes individual perception develops from our mind and therefore does not require vision to see the real world. Our brain is flexible has a strong adaption to reality by involving our five senses to institute realism. Nafisi’s memoir and literary criticism “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” describes her reality as an authoritarian society as oppose to a democratic society. Nafisi and her students develop their own virtual reality by imagining happiness, privileges and freedom that can replace the dictatorial reality. Individual perception refers to the stimuli through which one receives, unify and understands the information from the environment. We integrate factual and perceptual inputs around us into our belief system, changing the way we think and behave. Reality is the environment that surrounds by which we perceive. The subjective individual perception and the inevitable reality have a shared connection that separates apart from differences. The fundamental relationship is that our individual perception determines real world by challenging our perception in limitation and blindness that withstands the inescapable reality.
Sensation refers to the process of sensing what is around us in our environment by using our five senses, which are touching, smell, taste, sound and sight. Sensation occurs when one or more of the various sense organs received a stimulus. By receiving the stimulus, it will cause a mental or physical response. It starts in the sensory receptor, which are specialized cells that convert the stimulus to an electric impulse which makes it ready for the brain to use this information and this is the passive process. After this process, the perception comes into play of the active process. Perception is the process that selects the information, organize it and interpret that information.
Perception is a mysterious thing; it faces a lot of misconception, for it can merely be described as a lens, as it decides how someone views the events happening around them. Perception is the definition of how someone decides to use their senses to observe and make conceptions about events or conditions they see or that are around them. Perception also represents how people choose to observe regardless if it’s in a negative or positive way. In other words, perception can be described as people's cognitive function of how they interpret abstract situations or conjunctures around them. All in all, perception can do three things for someone: perception can change the way someone thinks in terms of their emotions and motivations, perception acts
In this essay, I will compare people that are obsessed with physical appearance and appearances. It is not strange for individuals to worry about physical appearance. In fact, we could argue that we are living in a culture that weighs the most up-to-date trends or newest fashions more heavily than more pressing issues that affects society. As a result, many people become obsessed with their physical appearance in order to keep up with trends and fashions.
Visual perception and visual sensation are both interactive processes, although there is a significant difference between the two processes. Sensation is defined as the stimulation of sense organs Visual sensation is a physiological process which means that it is the same for everyone. We absorb energy such as electro magnetic energy (light) or sound waves by sensory organs such as eyes. This energy is then transduced into electro chemical energy by the cones and rods (receptor cells) in the retina. There are four main stages of sensation. Sensation involves detection of stimuli incoming from the surrounding world, registering of the stimulus by the receptor cells, transduction or changing of the stimulus energy to an electric nerve impulse, and then finally the transmission of that electrical impulse into the brain. Our brain then perceives what the information is. Hence perception is defined as the selection, organisation and interpretation of that sensory input.
There have been many instances where I am stopped and commented on what I’m wearing. Depending on a single item of clothing, I am either a “certified hippie”, “lesbian”, or “law student”. This has brought me to raise an important social question: How have fashion and advertising built identity stereotypes? Stereotyping can have a strong and negative impact on a person, especially younger generations that are now at an influential stage in their mental development. By subjecting them to these stereotypes based on what they wear, they may begin to think of and see themselves as society claims, rather than who they are or aspire to be. By conducting further research on stereotyping in fashion designs through their advertisements, the aim of this research is to understand the history and social ideas behind fashion. By thoroughly understanding the problem, a solution would be easier to reach. In order to gain further insight on the matter, two practitioners have been selected: Dr. Rebecca Arnold and Dr. Roman Meinhold.
The images in the media are not going to go away or change, but the way we look at them can. Pointing out the positives in yourself is a great start to having a more positive self-image, and will help you to stop comparing yourself to others. Talking to someone about what is going on is also a big step in the right direction. We are never going to be perfect, but that’s what makes the differences in each of us that much better.