Observation paper I: Metaperceptions

What is a metaperception?

“an individual’s perspective on another’s perspective on him or her…” (Langer & Wurf, 2008).

I chose to analyze an interaction I had with two individuals, one male and one female to see if afterwards my beliefs about myself would be reinforced or challenged by our interaction.

I analyzed three characteristics of myself that were reinforced by the interactions.

• humor
• kindness
• intelligence

The concept of others influencing such strong aspects of one’s identity can be tricky. I found all three affirmed by our exchanges, but I found humor the most interesting which led to several questions.

• Can a person with negligible humor receive feedback that they are funny and actually become funnier?
• How does this effect relate to other things such as  kindness or intelligence?
• If I was treated as if I were a cruel, ignorant, stick in the mud would I begin to own those characteristics based upon the metaperceptions created by such treatment?
• How does age and possessing more set understandings of self impact creation of metaperceptions?

Ultimately, I found that this interaction confirmed what I already believed about myself and how I think people view me. Yet, one can never fully know how another perceives them without receiving their own explanation, but with what we are learning about deception, even then the complete truth may not be found out.

Langer, S. & Wurf, E. (2008). The effects of channel-consistent and channel-inconsistent interpersonal feedback on the formation of metaperceptions. In Guerrero, L. & Hecht, M. (Eds.), The nonverbal communication reader (pp. 511-520). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.