Comm 160 Blog Post #2

Eric Scanlan

Identity and perception go hand and hand. In the book, Communication A Critical/Cultural Introduction,  we can a clear view has to how the two go together. In the book identity is the answer to the question, “Who am I?” In class, identity was defined as; “the totality of the person’s self attributes at a given moment in time.” The book defines perception as, “how a person sees the world, influenced by the social political, and cultural experiences that frame mark her or him” (Pg. 99). Identity is scared to people as it determines who they are and who they will be for the rest of their lives. There are certain aspects of one’s life that make up their identity such as; race, culture,  social class, sexual orientation, etc. All of these aspects add to one’s identity and ultimately affect people’s perception as well. A person’s identity is in my own opinion greatly shaped by their culture which is also something that shapes how people see things which is essentially the very definition of perception. Both of these things are essential to how people act and how they see things for the rest of their lives.

In class we discussed other elements that also make up one’s identity and perception. These things are; social construction, norms, positionality, standpoint theory, and stereotypes. All of these things affect our actions and how we react to certain situations and view society as there are set rules that we feel the need to follow. This also shapes how we view ourselves bringing us to self perception and how we view ourselves.

Overall, we would not have an identity let alone our own perception without experience. Experience it what creates the opportunity for all these things to be created and to affect us as a society. We learn from experiences, they show us who we are and how we carry ourselves in social situations. Without them we would not be the people we are.