What influences our perception?

Messages that tell us we are expected to fulfill roles influence our perceptions. Demands of our roles influence our perceptions. Cognitive abilities shape our perceptions and cognitive complexity refers to the number of different knowledge schema used to organize and interpret people and situations. Cognitively complex people tend to be flexible in interpreting complicated phenomena and integrating new information into their thinking about people and situations. Less cognitively complex people are likely to ignore information that doesn’t fit neatly with their perceptions or to use it to replace the impressions they had formed. Person-centered perception is the ability to perceive another as a unique and distinct individual. Person-centered perception reflects cognitive complexity because it entails abstract thinking and a broad range of schemata. Person-centered perception is not the same as empathy is the ability to feel with another person.