Perception Gap

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I believe the perception gap can have both positive and negative affect in the communication process. I find it is more common to have negative affects though. During the perception gap we tend to stereotype, and/or overgeneralize because we have a preconceived notion about what to expect due to our previous experiences and education. When we stereotype and/or overgeneralize we tend to over look important quality’s and traits at first. Which can result in delivering the communication in a disrespectful manor and creating a defensive climate. A situation that I can reflect on where I had an inaccurate perception of someone was the first time I trained someone on the till at Dollarama. It was my first time meeting the new employee and I was informed the employee was an international student. Due to my previous experiences I assumed the international student would have a language barrier. So as I started to explain how the till operated I simplified all the steps and repeated myself more than once. Once the new employee started to complete the tasks without a problem and communicated back clear and directly, I realized I was being extremely rude. It was the perception gap that I had that affected the communication process between me and the new employee in a negative way. I later realized what I perceived about international students was incorrect and extremely prejudice. It is important to be aware of your own personal and cultural biases, and work to understand cultural, gender, and age differences.