The term “social perception” might seem a misnomer, as it refers less to how people perceive their social environment through their senses than to how they make a judgment. Unlike the color of a car or the loudness of a piece of music, both of which can be more or less directly perceived by the
According to the impersonal impact hypothesis, the mass media influence individuals’ perceptions of risk to others (societal-level risk), but not perceptions of risk to themselves (personal risk). Implicit in this hypothesis is the notion that individuals can compartmentalize various perceptions of risk, differentiating between societal-level judgments, or beliefs about the larger community with respect to
Unrealistic optimism, suggested by LeJeune and Alex in 1973, was described as the “illusion of unique invulnerability.” It was further developed by Weinstein (1980) in an article on individual perceptions of future life events. This illusion refers to an individual’s tendency to believe oneself invulnerable or at very low risk of suffering misfortune and victimization.
Rather than passively receiving information about the body, individuals perceive physical symptoms through an active and constructive process. Physical symptoms are thought to arise from a process in which changes in the functioning of the body are detected, attended to by the individual, and given meaning through their labeling as symptomatic of a given physical
An important concept to apply in describing how journalists in different cultures and media systems understand their work and its social function is role perceptions. These can have a strong influence on journalists’ professional behavior and thus can explain differences between news cultures. The term “role” originates from theater, and sociology adopted the term to
Perception refers to the process of categorizing and interpreting information that is attended to. Selective perception refers to the process of categorizing and interpreting information in a way that favors one category or interpretation over another. Thus, selective perception is generally considered to represent a bias in information processing. More specifically, information tends to be
Perception brings us into contact with people, objects, and places within the environment. Perception relies on sensory systems that enable humans to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. It is estimated that one third of the human brain is dedicated to perception. Early Greek philosophers were among the first to study the science of perception.
Perception is an ambiguous term and is used in many different ways, at least in the field of communication. Perhaps this is understandable given that communication is a diverse field that draws on concepts from a number of disciplines. Thus, in reading communication literature, one might encounter terms such as precept, perceptual field, or perceptual
Sexual offending results in drastic negative consequences for victims and their families. The nature of this offending behavior results in very strong public reactions and opinions about this subgroup of offenders. It is important to consider public perceptions or attitudes, particularly in the context of community reintegration of sexual offenders. Attitudes are an expression of
The term subliminal is derived from the terms sub (below) and limen (threshold), and it refers to perception so subtle it cannot reach conscious awareness. Most of the research on subliminal perception is done on visual subliminal perception. For instance, one can flash words or pictures so quickly on a computer screen (generally faster than