Perception Checking Research Paper

Words: 876
Pages: 4

Perception checking happens often, with some people unaware that they are perception checking. Perception checking is very beneficial when you are trying to understand the actions of another person. It allows time for the action to be processed and stops one from jumping to conclusions. Perception checking can be broken down into three steps. To start off with, describe the behavior. In this step, there must be no emotion or attitude to the statement to the recipient. Afterwards, there must be two alternative interpretations of what led to that event. Lastly, ask for clarification of the situation. During this step, the other person clarifies the reason behind their behavior. This situation occurred with my roommate. This is the first year …show more content…
During that time, I saw him cleaning the apartment. The very next day I came out to see him on the couch. I sat next to him and said “hey, I saw you doing dishes yesterday and picking up the apartment.” I followed up my previous statement by stating “I didn’t think those dishes were yours in the sink or that there were any dishes left from dinner that had to be cleaned.” There was a slight pause where I believe he was processing what I had mentioned. He went on to say “Oh yeah, do you remember the guy that I told you about that I’m talking to.” I replied with a head nod. He continued stating “Well he is coming tomorrow to visit and well he is a bit of a clean freak.” I replied saying “Oh I see.” He followed up saying “also when he comes over please don’t mention I am a very dirty person.” During this conversation a thought came into my head. All this time, he insisted that he didn’t know how to clean. Which contradicted his previous statements of him having to clean a lot at his house. I saw him clean and do it correctly the first time. Before I could stop myself I asked him “Why did you not care enough to put effort all year until this