Social Psychology



Social Psychology

How do we perceive ourselves and our interactions with others?

It is commonly agreed by many that an individual's actions are a result of the interactions that he has with the people around him, and his environment, for that matter. An individual perceives himself on the base of his identity. The identity of an individual is formed through his upbringing at home, and then later by the interactions that he has with others, who are not a part of his family. The self image and the self esteem are developed through the various interactions and the environment that an individual goes through in his early stages of life. All these interactions play a significant role in defining an individual's identity and also play an important part in helping him developing perceptions regarding others.

If a child experiences violence and distrust in his early stage of life, there are strong chances that he might end up becoming a violent person and have trust issues with those around him. On the other hand, if a child is provided with all the basic necessities and is brought up in a very comfortable and learning environment, he will grow up to become a better person and will perform his duty as a civilized person in the society. According to various studies, recognition of one's face is not that consistent as one might think. The ability of the individual for recognizing his own self and face changes when he sees the face of another individual being touched the same way his face is, and at the same time, as if looking in the mirror.

According to one study, when the individuals were asked for recognizing a photo of their face, the picture that they went for comprised of the features of the others they had seen before. Surprisingly, this didn't happen when both the faces were made to be touched off the synchrony. When an individual shares an experience with someone else, the very perception of that person changes from what that person has, for instance, the recognition of one's face. Due to the result of these shared experiences, one tends to perceive others as being same to them. This also means to the recognition of one's face. This is known as an important factor for the development of the self identity in social context. Therefore, shared experience influences the way how one perceives himself and the ways in which he interacts with others around him. This helps an individual in developing a self esteem which defines the extent to which the individual is confident and feels about himself. Self efficacy pertains to the ability of an individual to judge about a particular activity.

What judgments do we make about other people?

The judgments that one makes regarding others is based on a number of factors such as, the upbringing of that individual who is judging others; the experience of that individual with a certain race; general perceptions; along other ...