Page 62 - Essentials of Human Communication

Impression Formation 41

Wonder Woman or Sherlock Holmes, public figures such as Hillary Clinton or Ralph
Nader, or persons from other cultures or of a different sex or affectional
orientation.
● Pose a question or problem and then listen to how this team of ghosts perceives your
problem. Of course, you’re really listening to yourself, but you are putting your perspec-
tives aside and attempting to think like these other people. The technique forces you
to step outside your normal role and to consider the perceptions of someone totally
different from you.

reduce uncertainty In every communication situation, there is some degree of ambi-
guity. A variety of strategies can help reduce uncertainty about another person (Berger &
Bradac, 1982; Gudykunst, 1993; Brashers, 2007).

● Observe. Observing another person while he or she is engaged in an active task—preferably
interacting with others in an informal social situation—will often reveal a great deal
about the person, as people are less apt to monitor their behaviors and more Communication
likely to reveal their true selves in informal situations. Choice point
● Construct situations. You can sometimes manipulate situations so as to observe relationship
the person in more specific and revealing contexts. Employment interviews, the- uncertainty
atrical auditions, and student teaching are good examples of situations arranged You’ve been dating someone
to give you an accurate view of the person in action. casually over the past six months. You want
● Lurk. When you log on to an Internet group and lurk, reading the exchanges be- to move to a more exclusive relationship in
tween the other group members before saying anything yourself, you’re learning which you date only each other, but you’ve
about the people in the group and about the group itself, thus reducing uncer- been getting mixed signals. In what ways
tainty. When uncertainty is reduced, you’re more likely to make contributions might you go about discovering how your
partner feels?
that will be appropriate to the group and less likely to violate the group’s norms.

SkIll DeVelopmenT experIenCe

Checking Your perceptions

Complete the table below by providing a description of how you perceive the incident and how you’d go
about seeking confirmation. If you have several possible explanations for the incident, describe each of these in
the second column. In the third column indicate the ways you might go about seeking clarification of your ini-
tial impressions—what your choices are for seeking clarification.
Incident Describe what You perceive Seek Clarification
and the possible Interpreta-
tions or Meanings
You’ve extended an invitation to a
classmate to be a Facebook friend
but have heard nothing back.
Your manager at work seems to
spend a lot of time with your peers
but very little time with you. You’re
concerned about the impression
you’re making.
The person you’ve been dating for Perception checking is
the last several months has stopped best thought of as a
calling for a date. The messages state of mind to seek
have become fewer and less clarification before
personal. forming conclusions.