Monday, September 24, 2012
Week 6- Judging and Categorizing
In some cases, it is possible to perceive others without judging or categorizing, only if you have a clear mind set on the actual presentation of what is being presented. In most cases though, I do believe sometimes that person prototypes, personal constructs, and scripts enable use to judge others. Person prototypes can effect the way an individual wants to listen to another because he or she is already put into a category. I do see how this can help us recognizing when listening is important, (i.e. teachers, professors, coaches), but it can also damage our process preferred listening and ignoring others. Constructs are events that cause an individual to think a certain way after a certain event. This to can be bitter sweet depending on if the individual had a good or bad day. Scripts are a process based decision that an individual inhabits due to routine. A person knows how to act or react because the situation has come up before and often. So back to judging others, I do see that listening actively to a person is hard if a prior judgement hasn't already been made, either conscientiously or not. For a personal example, sometimes my educational level gets judged or categorized as "low" by others due to my hair color and gender. A person may spend more time focusing on whether the information is valid based on his or her beliefs, attitudes and customs. Categorizing others information negatively should not take effect as often as it does today, but as individuals ( and like the book states ) we will believe what we want to believe.
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I was intrigued by your statement of feeling judged by your hair color and gender. I do not think it really needs an in depth discussion as to the obvious unfairness of such short sightedness. I do wonder if people consider that a non mainstream hair color, tattoo, or facial piercing may not be well received by the main stream population. I understand that it was not intended to be a way to blend in but a way to express individuality. My wife is a hair dresser and creates works of art with hair styles and color. These kinds of expressions many times will create an image that will be negatively judged outside certain groups or their circle of friends. I believe that those who choose to stand out as individuals will always have challenges with the main stream.
ReplyDeleteI agree that, in this society especially, we take many shortcuts in 'categorizing' individuals based on superficial cues. These range from hair color, chosen words used in discussion, the friends we hang out with and many other things. Many times, with these cues alone, we start to pseudo-construct the individuals we encounter. It seems since most individuals choose not to truly reveal themselves for whom they are, people instead try to 'understand' and 'make sense' out of the individuals they encounter by taking these 'shortcuts'. Of course it gets in the way of our active listening and objective understanding of individuals and it ultimately inhibits true communication. It is very difficult for these automatic processes not to prevail in our minds, but I do think we can begin to deconstruct these habits with active practice of being objective in our listening, learning and understanding of the people we encounter.
ReplyDeleteHello Hazel,
ReplyDeleteI agree that personal prototypes, personal constructs and scripts cause us to make judgments too soon. Most of the time we make our judgment before we even know the person or hear what they have to say. It is horrible I know but the same happens to us by other people. My teachers used to say that I look like the shy quiet girl, then I open my mouth and they are like “where the heck did she get such a loud mouth?” The same goes for your mention of hair color, a blonde girl is categorized as a ditz but a blonde guy is not and why? We are lead to judge by our personal experiences and by society’s expectations and customs. Judging is a daily part of life and something that you have to learn to use to your advantage.