The other day I overheard some young people talking. A fresh graduate from high school was posing this question to his peers. Is it illegal to wear a ski mask into a bank to conduct business? Obviously, I would not suggest trying this to find out. The brief snippet of this conversation I overheard started me thinking about how important it is to understand others' perception. If you walk into a bank wearing a ski mask, your intentions are far less important than others' perceptions of your intentions. When I'm on a bus or subway, I like looking around and trying to see how much I can tell about the fellow passengers just by looking at them. It is a simple way I try to keep … [Read more...] about Understanding Other’s Perceptions
authority
Perception of Authority
Back in the 60s, there were some experiments done to see how likely people were to obey an authority figure, even if they were doing something they felt was wrong. The results were scary. Most people would continue to administer lethal electric shocks to another human if someone in a lab coat told them they had to. In the book Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition) the author talks about the different ways we perceive someone as being an authority. This perception causes you to obey them more than would be expected. The book lists three things that cause people to identify someone as an authority: Impressive Title Their Clothes Driving an Expensive Car On one … [Read more...] about Perception of Authority