This chapter discusses the self in interpersonal communication, including sources of self-concept such as others' images and social comparisons. It also covers self-awareness and increasing self-esteem through attacking self-destructive beliefs and seeking nourishing people. The chapter examines perception, impression formation through various processes, and impression management goals and strategies.

1. Perception and the Self in
Interpersonal Communication
Chapter 3
Angell’ Beswetherick

2. The Self in Interpersonal Communication
 Self-Concept – The way you see
yourself.
http://bahaicoherence.blogspot.com/2009/11/self-identity.html

3. The Self in Interpersonal Communication
Sources of Self-Concept:
 Others’ images – How significant others see
you.
 Social Comparisons – How you compare to
your peers.
 Cultural Teachings – How you fulfill the
teachings of your culture.
 Self-Evaluations – How you evaluate your own
feelings and behavior.

4. The Self in Interpersonal Communication
 Self-Awareness – How well you know
yourself.
The more you understand about why you view
yourself the way you do – the more you will
understand who you are.
Using the Johari model, additional insight can be
gained for self-awareness.

5. The Johari Window
-The Four Selves-
Known to Self Not Known to Self
OPEN SELF Blind Self
Known to Information about yourself that Information about yourself that
Others you and others know others know but you don’t know
Not Known Hidden Self Unknown Self
Information about yourself that Information about yourself that
to Others you know but others don’t know neither you nor others know

6. The Self in Interpersonal Communication
5 ways you can increase your self-awareness
 Ask yourself about yourself.
Honestly answer yourself about who you are, good and bad.
 Listen to others.
Pay attention to what others are saying about you, verbally and non-verbally.
 Actively seek information about yourself.
Ask others about you. Not by being too forward, but asking questions such as “Do you
think I am a pushover with my children?”
 See your different selves.
Visualize how you’re seen by others (your mom, dad, children, husband/wife, boss,
your kids friends, etc.)
 Increase your open self.
You may find connections that you had missed before. You will also likely increase
meaningful, intimate dialogue which will help you know yourself better.

7. The Self in Interpersonal Communication
 Self-Esteem – The measure of how
valuable you think you are.
High self-esteem = think highly of yourself
Low self-esteem = usually think negatively of yourself
Usually, the better self-esteem you have, the better
you feel about yourself. This in turn, generally,
means you’ll perform better.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/making-
change/200910/how-high-self-esteem-can-get-
us-down

8. The Self in Interpersonal Communication
5 ways to increase self-esteem
 Attack self-destructive beliefs.
Get rid of those unrealistic expectations you have set for yourself or ideas that are
unproductive. Like being perfect, or having to please others.
 Seek out nourishing people.
Be around people that are positive and optimistic.
 Work on projects that will result in success.
Don’t set yourself up for failing.
 Remind yourself of your successes.
Don’t focus solely on failures or negative experiences. Think of the successes and
learn from the failed experiences.
 Secure Affirmation.
Remind yourself that “I am”, “I can”, and “I will”.

9. Assignment #1
Choose 3 of the following, find pictures that
represent these and post on Tumblr. Make
sure you label each picture with what it
represents and your name.
1. Self-Concept 4. Open self
2. Self-Awareness 5. Hidden self
3. Blind self 6. Unknown self

10. Assignment #2
Watch the following video on YouTube.
http://youtu.be/Z-Ji8zrtrIw
Answer the following questions and answer on the
Discussion Board.
Also reply to one other classmates post.
1. According to the video above, what did Jim
Clark experience as a child that lowered his self
esteem?
2. What do you think turned around his self-
esteem and how he then became successful?

11. Perception in Interpersonal Communication
 Perception – The process in which you
become aware of objects, events, and
especially people through senses (sight,
smell, taste, touch, and hearing).
Perceptions result from your own
experiences, desires, needs and wants, loves
and hatreds.
Why is perception so important in
Interpersonal Communication?
It influences communication choices
because it depends on how you see the world or
how you see yourself to determine the message
you send out or what you listen to.

12. Perception in Interpersonal Communication
The 5 Stages of Perception
Stage One: Stimulation – Your senses are stimulated.
(smell, taste, feel, see, or hear)
Stage Two: Organization – Organize the information that your
senses pick up. They can be organized in 3 ways.
 Rules – Proximity, similarity, or contrast.
 Schemata
 Scripts
Stage Three: Interpretation–Evaluation – Influenced by your
experiences, needs, wants, values, beliefs, expectations, etc.
Stage Four: Memory – Your perceptions and interpretations-
evaluations are put into memory until retrieved later.
Stage Five: Recall – Accessing the information that you stored
into memory.

13. Impression Formation
 Impression Formation – AKA Person
Perception. You go through a
variety of processes to form an
impression of another person.
http://www.straitstimes.com

14. Impression Formation
The 6 Processes in Impression Formation
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – a prediction that comes true because
you act on it as if it were.
 Implicit Personality Theory – The system of rules that tell you
which characteristics go together.
 Perceptual Accentuation – Leads you to see what you expect or
want to see.
 Primacy-Recency – The first impression is most influential
(Primacy). Or the last impression is most influential (Recency).
 Consistency – Maintaining balance between perceptions and
attitudes.
 Attribution of Control – The positive or negative impression we
get from the actions of others.
Self- Serving Bias – Taking credit for the positive and denying responsibility for the negative.
Example: I got an A! (saying it’s you that earned it). The teacher gave me a D! (The teacher did it,
not you!)
Overattribution - Attributing everything about a person to specific characteristics.
Example: Sara his lazy because she’s never had to work for anything, her parents give her everything.
Fundamental Attribution Error – Thinking people do what they do because of the kind of person they are
rather than the situation they are in.

15. Impression Formation
4 Ways to Increase Accuracy in Impression Formation
• Analyze Impressions
o Recognize your own role in perception.
o Avoid early conclusions.
• Check Perceptions
o Describe what you see/hear.
o Seek Confirmation.
• Reduce Uncertainty
• Increase Cultural Sensitivity

16. Impression Management: Goals and Strategies
 Impression Management – The
processes you go through to
communicate the impression that you
would like others to have of you.
The goal you have is what will determine
which strategy you use. Sometimes
these can work for you and give the
impression that you are wanting to give,
but sometimes they can backfire.
(Pg. 72)

17. Impression Management: Goals and Strategies
Goals and Strategies of Impression Management
 To Be Liked: Immediacy and Affinity-Seeking Strategies.
 To Be Believed: Credibility Strategies.
 To Excuse Failure: Self-Handicapping Strategies.
 To Excuse Failure: Self-Handicapping Strategies.
 To Secure Help: Self-Deprecating Strategies.
 To Hide Faults: Self-Monitoring Strategies.
 To Be Followed: Influencing Strategies.
 To Confirm Self-Image: Image-Confirming Strategies.

18. Assignment #3
Post a video on the Facebook “like”
page that shows one of the
Impression Management Goals &
Strategies.