Social Perceptions Inaccurate

Summary: Social psychologists have been debating the question “Are our social perceptions often inaccurate” for many years, each coming to their own conclusion. Social psychologists Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett argue that people’s perceptions are indeed often inaccurate, due to a “dispensationalist bias” (“Are Our Social. . .”). However David C. Funder believes that our perceptions are not often mistaken and that their behavior is due to their dispositions. Ross and Nisbett would argue that the conduction of multiple different experiments resulted in proof that people’s perceptions are often inaccurate, however Funder followed after that by disproving that statement. Ross and Nisbett also stated that humans are typically too quick to correspond …show more content…
I know this mainly through personal experience. I remember when I met my best friend for the first time and I thought she was self-absorbed and narcissistic. I could not have been more wrong with this perception of her and everyday she proves my first impression of her wrong. Not only is she an incredibly amazing friend, but she also went out of her way to build a non-profit organization to help bring joy into the lives of under privileged children across the county. Her true self completely shattered my original perception of her. This also happened when I first met my current roommate. We met last year and I though she seemed like a great girl, so I decided that I would room with her coming this year. However, as the year has progressed she has begun to show me sides of herself that I never even though to perceive when I originally met her. I thought she would be caring, self-less, considerate, and understanding as a roommate. But as problems throughout the year have presented themselves she has showed me that she is self-involved, immature, irrational, and manipulative. My original perception of her was off by a large proportion and needless to say we will not be rooming together coming next year. In addition, another one of my best friends seemed to me (when I first met her) to be a spoiled brat who thought she owned the school. …show more content…
They noted that each situation would be different with diverse factors contributing to our ultimate perception. However people’s personal beliefs also influence their perceptions, which is extremely prevalent in the Christian culture. Christians tend to see the good in people, or at least try to, and they can end up biting them in the butt. A Christian person could try to be a “good Samaritan” and go out to feed the hungry but end up getting mugged, proving their original social perception that he would be safe wrong. Also Christians see their pastures as the “ideal” Godly image and then are proven wrong once again when they find out the pasture has been stealing money from the church or that he has committed adultery against his wife. In addition, an American puts their faith in the judicial system and may end up being wrongfully punished, shattering their social perception of justice. Our religious standing and beliefs have the ability to affect our social perceptions, and not always in a beneficial way. So, due to personal experience and the research article presented, I agree with Ross and Nisbett that our social perceptions are typically