Chapter 2 Perceiving the Self and Others 41Perception in a Diverse World
A few generations ago, people may have gone months without coming into con-
tact with someone from a different village or neighborhood. A wheelchair-bound
child may have been unable to attend public schools. In parts of this country,
white and black Americans were not permitted to sit at the same lunch counter.
Today, people from all walks of life learn, work, and play together. And through
technology, we can communicate with others across vast distances. A student in
Louisville, Kentucky, can chat online with a student from Bangladesh. A sales-
person in Omaha, Nebraska, may work full-time with clients in Tokyo. In order
to communicate effectively, we must stretch our perceptions to “see through the
eyes, hearts, and minds of people from cultures” other than our own (Chen &
Starosta, 2008, p. 215). In this section, we do precisely that by examining the
cultural context and perceptual barriers.
The Cultural Context
Many students are fans of A&E Television’s hit series, Duck Dynasty, which
chronicles the lives of the Robertson family from rural Louisiana who struck
it rich with their family business making products for duck hunters. Students
DO YOU SHARE a cultural
identity with any of these
groups? Factors such as age,
gender, race, religious beliefs,
sexual orientation—even
where you grew up—affect
your own perceptions and the
perceptions of others. (top left)
Digital Vision/Getty Images; (top right)
Michael Williamson/The Washington
Post/Getty Images; (bottom left) PATRICK
ANDRADE/Landov; (bottom right) Tom
Shaw/Getty Images