Chapter 1: Culture
3. Cultural Determination of our Perception
What does appear first, the old lady or the young women?
Figure: Optical Illusion III (Block/Yuker, 2006, p. 20)
Perception describes the process of how we experience, recognize, categorize and interpret other people and our environment. Every person - shaped by his or her background, socialization, experience, etc. - perceives people, objects, behaviors, situations differently. All phenomena of the world are perceived through a “cultural lens”. The clash of different perceptions can lead to misunderstandings, uncertainty and irritation. The change of perception is indispensable to enable successful interaction with foreign cultures. Our perception is generally affected by feelings and prejudices. To become aware of this fact can help to appropriately manage cultural misunderstandings.
A collectively shared perception can become entrenched and reinforced. If this is the case, we speak of prejudices and stereotypes. Perception is connected with prejudice and negative stereotypes – something that we all have. Only by becoming aware of the different perceptions can one learn to deal constructively with one's individual stereotypes and prejudices. This requires a high degree of self-reflection and the ability to understand the process of perception.
What is important to remember is that stereotypes exist for a reason. They are human beings’ method to categorize otherwise a chaotic world. They are mental structures, which simplify the complex stimuli from one's environment and facilitate their comprehension. In this way, we see what we are taught to see, and at the same time our observations also confirm the stereotype. Expectations drive our attention as observers. Having stereotypes may even lead one to see things that are not really there. As such, stereotypes are not bad or good, but they can influence intercultural interactions in different ways. An observer tends to favour information that is consistent with existing expectancies, and tends to ignore, or reject information that is inconsistent with the stereotypes. According to some studies, people tend to favour hypotheses based on stereotypes even when they have a reason to suspect the validity of the stereotype (Johnston & Macrae 1994). Stereotypes are often resistant to change. Experiences at variance with the stereotype usually do not change the stereotype but are interpreted as exceptions. Stereotypes reduce our mental energy expenditure. This is because forming groups and assigning similar characteristics to groups make it easier for us to “know” and “understand” those people. Stereotypes save energy and don’t always have to be negative. What we should keep in mind is that stereotypes are generalizations and make reference to broad characteristics that in no way represent a full picture of that group or individual. Stereotypes are beliefs that we have about the characteristics of a group. The word prejudice refers to negative assessments of those groups.
We always see through our "cultural glasses"
Everyone thinks in stereotypes and develops certain prejudices.
This reduction is necessary to be able to classify situations and encounters as quickly as possible and to act accordingly.
Without stereotypes, people probably could not bear the complexity of the world.
However, if a stereotype is not individually differentiated and reflected, it can be rigid and discriminatory.