SELECTIVE PERCEPTION
What influences us?
We interpret information in a way that is congruent with our existing values and beliefs.
Selective perception is the tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause emotional discomfort and contradict our prior beliefs. It is a broad term to identify all people’s behaviour to tend to "see things" based on their particular frame of reference. It also describes how we categorize and interpret sensory information to favour one category or interpretation over another. In other words, a selective perception is a form of bias because we interpret information in a way that is congruent with our existing values and beliefs.
Now that is quite the mouthful from Wikipedia but if we dissect all that and ingest it piece by piece, we will start to understand our human condition even better. Selective perception is a very common cognitive distortion that affects your perception. It makes you see, listen, or focus your attention on a stimulus based on your expectation, without taking into account the rest of the information. Now, since my role here is to promote a healthier lifestyle by way of education, I will expound more on this topic in relation to food.
“According to advertising researcher Seymour Smith, people screen out advertisements depending on their beliefs, attitudes, conditioning, habits, usage preferences, and others. Biological factors such as gender, age, and race may also affect selective perception”
If you have read my previous blog posts (and watched the Intermission episodes that go with them) you will see that I cover a lot about food. Food is the one thing that affects the human body the most. The adage….” you are what you eat” can never be more epitomised than what you see in the mirror every morning. The way you approach and think about food determines the outcome of your day, and consequently, your life. Why do you eat? Do you prioritise pleasure over necessity? Or….do you just throw necessity and pleasure into a proverbial food processor and come up with that steak dinner?
Antonio AvantiTrust me, I was one of those who used to beat the “protein drum” and make sweet music out of it in advertisement for meat. Most certainly, when you ask people why they eat meat, they will say it’s for protein. Knowing what I know now, I can’t hold them at fault for that answer. The association of the protein with meat is a result of gradual and deliberate programming over time. Be it through our culture, government or peer association. Advertisers use this to their advantage in order to turn your attention to the most striking characteristics of the items they want you to buy. In this case, they will tell you of all the protein you get from meat but leave out the unpleasantries that come with meat consumption (especially in large quantities).
Most of us reading this blog have been through the car buying process. You do your research, narrow your options and then visit the dealer. There are those of us who will take that process to another level by researching maintenance costs on a particular model, insurance, reliability..etc.. then visit a dealer. Regardless of which path we took, we will be presented with the glorifying aspects of the particular car we want when we get to the dealer. Now, this is where perceptual distortions such as selective exposure and selective attention come in.
Selective exposure When you only see and hear what you want
Selective attention It makes you focus on what interests you by discarding the rest of the information.
The heart wants….what the heart wants and when it comes to food, this phenomenon will override the logical decisions we have to make about our health. How objective can a person be when they filter out relevant information about what they are eating? Do they really seek to know more or just be content with what they already know? Selective perception is the mechanism that allows you to filter the relevant information and avoid stimuli overload. However, in many situations, it will cause you to lose or miss out on very valuable information.
In the end, the key question would be, “how informed are you?” Do you challenge your beliefs by seeking new knowledge or are your decisions based on what you learned many years ago? Knowledge is power! The greatest power you can ever possess. With it, you will give yourself the best chance at a fulfilled life with the least amount of suffering.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think we should keep an open mind. Confirmation bias..which is the tendency to search for, interpret, favour and recall information in a way that confirms or supports our prior beliefs or values, can really limit us and our quest to improve the human condition.
Works cited
Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_perception
Exploring your mind https://exploringyourmind.com/selective-perception-how-it-affects-our-view-of-the-world/
Confirmation bias, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
