Subjectivity of perception

In perception, there is always, albeit to varying degrees, an element of subjectivity: what a person sees depends not only on what is actually in front of him, objectively, but also on what kind of person he is, what his past experience is , habits, fears and hopes, in what mood he is. The main points that determine the subjectivity of perception are:

• value selectivity.

What aspect of what is happening we see in what happened depends largely on our values. See Centers of Consciousness

• Used means of perception

What a person sees depends on the personal constructs and metaphors they use. Look →

• Imagination and interpretation.

You can try to see reality (touch, color, sound, as well as everything that can be measured in physical terms), but more often people tend to immediately construct an emotionally rich picture of what is happening — a Fairy Tale. See Fairy tale and reality

• positions of perception.

What and how we will see depends largely on the position from which we will perceive something: stereotyped like everyone else, from the position of personal vision and interests, from the position of the interests of a partner, or from the position of a particular system. See Perceptual Positions

• Assimilated culture and personal experience.

Thunder and lightning for a physicist are atmospheric electrical discharges, for a believing grandmother — Elijah the Prophet on a chariot, the fear of the Lord. With a change in orientations and values, what seemed like a nuisance may turn out to be just a neutral, or even a long-awaited circumstance.

An anecdote from the times of the Soviet Union. A little daughter asks her dad: “Dad, what is the difference between a disaster and a disaster?” — “Daughter, just imagine a mountain gorge, a bridge above it, and a small goat on the bridge. If the goat fell from the bridge and crashed, this, of course, is a disaster. But it’s not a disaster. But if a plane with members of the Politburo flew over these mountains and crashed, this is already a disaster. Understandably?» — «Yes, I understood! If a goat is killed, it’s a disaster, but it’s not a disaster. And if the Politburo crashed, it’s a disaster. But this is not a problem! Other examples: See →

• Tendency to pattern perception.

Since the mass personality primarily uses patterns, such a person sees exactly what he is ready to see in a patterned, familiar way. See Pattern Perception and Effects of Social Perception.

• Gender specifics

Women tend to see the new rather dangerous, men — interesting. See →

Subjectivity of social perception

The subjectivity of social perception, that is, the perception in the environment of other people and the perception of other people, is even more subjective, arbitrary. In humans, we have more emotions, more personal relationships — and their perception is more personal, more subjective. See →