Blog 2

Brittany Yann

Christina Ivey

COMM 160

9/28/17

Blog #2: Identity and Perception

            In class, we discussed identity and perception from chapter six of our textbook. Warren and Fassett write about how our social world influences our identity and how we perceive others and the world. Identity refers to who we are, but our perceptions are “someone’s point of view that is framed by social and/or political experience,” (Warren & Fassett, 2015). Social construction influences our identity and perception by emerging our social world through actions and rules we must follow. These “mandatory” rules can be defined as norms, “a standard, modern or pattern,” (Dictionary.com, 2017).

            A social norm that we tend to follow are stereotypes, “easy conclusions about people that reduce them from unique individuals to predictable types,” (Warren & Fassett, 2015). Stereotypes are broken down into three definitions. The first being that stereotypes are cognitive structures that contain the perceiver’s knowledge, beliefs, and expectancies of a social group. Next, stereotypes are abstract knowledge structures linking a social group to sets of traits and behavior. Third, stereotypes are consensual beliefs about the characteristics of a group. (Michigan State University)

            In my life, I’ve experienced negative stereotypes because I am Asian. People assume that I am very good at math, eat dog, date other Asians. For those of you who don’t know, I am a communication major, clearly a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences. I do not eat dog because I grew up in America where we do not eat dogs. Americans should realize how blessed we are to have dogs as a companion rather than see it as a last resort for a meal. Just saying folks. Last, I’ve never been interested in dating Asian guys. Most Asian guys I grew up with had this patriarchal mindset that disgusted me. Also, I spent much of my childhood growing up in Idaho, so that pretty much defines my type.

            There are plenty of stereotypes that make wrongful assumptions of people, but it comes from our social world. Our identity and perception of people stem from a specific culture, and often we do not properly understand other cultures. What makes us special as humans is that we all have our own identities, but we should educate ourselves in what stereotypes we believe. Our perceptions can determine whether or not our interpretation of an individual is accurate.

References

Dictionary.com. (2017). Norms. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/norms?s=t

Michigan State University. (n.d.). Stereotypes. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from https://msu.edu/course/psy/442/stereotypes.ppt/sld001.htm

Warren, J. T., & Fassett, D. L. (2015). Compassionate and Critical Listening. In Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction [Red Shelf version] (2nd ed., pp. 63-76). Retrieved from https://platform.virdocs.com/app/v5/doc/80520/pg/1/toc