Is Perception Reality??

People think they know you. Even before they know your name, they think they have figured you out. Why?

Strangers make assumptions about you based on your appearance.

The scary part is that their assumptions about you are solely derived from their past assumptions and experiences as well a variety of cultural and psychological reasons. It takes a relationship or an outside opinion to change those assumptions.

PERCEPTIONS

From the two photos below, which do you perceive to be Bob and which is Tim?

Photo Credit: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Most perceive the man on the left to be Tim and the man on the right to be Bob. Miami University Researchers are trying to figure out why. One possibility is that the sound of a name crosses over to a visual representation. (source)

These types of effects of category labels on lower-level perception are becoming a concern for researchers in cognitive and social psychology because their existence suggest that we may not ever be able to see what’s actually there but will always be influenced by what we expect to be there.
- Robin Thomas :: Associate Professor of Psychology :: Miami University

In other words, perceptions are influenced by expectations.

MY THOUGHTS:

In Student Ministry then, whatever one person, such as a parent, expects to take place, is normally what they think reality is. Perception and reality are two of the tight ropes that youth pastors must walk on constantly. Communication has never been more important. I don’t want to remain insulated from the battle of making reality reality vs. perception, I want to be on the front lines and recruiting those who allow their perceptions to become reality even if that is not the truth. I need them on my team. They will see all too soon how difficult ministry is and how it is virtually impossible to please all people. What fun!!

You can read the rest of this great blog here from ChurchRelevance.com. This blog goes onto talk about a survey asked of non-Christians about how they view the Church. I think the bottom line is our publications, our websites, our blogs everything that comes from our Churches are already judged. You will want to check this out.

You will also want to continue to go back to this blog all the time. It is one of my favorite blogs to read. I am giving credit where credit is due…

Church Relevance is a free online resource created to help train ministries how to more effectively reach people.

Kent Shaffer, co-owner of Bombay Creative, launched ChurchRelevance.com in March 2006 as an extension to the Church Relevance enewsletter he began in November 2005.