Does this sound familiar? You're talking to your mother, father, friend, colleague, or boss. During the conversation, you realize that the other person sees certain situations completely differently than you do. You think to yourself, "MY way is the right way!" What's more, topics are interpreted in completely different ways. Long discussions ensue. You say to yourself, "MY solution is clear and correct, so why can't they see that?"
It is precisely this phenomenon that I would like to address. Today, I would like to share with you the topic that most impressed me during my master's degree in business psychology at the Grundl Academy. Allow me to put forward the following thesis:
"All people are right in what they say and do. They make the best choice within the scope of THEIR personal view of the world!"
Isn't that exciting? Are you also thinking of someone who you are still convinced is wrong? Let's use psychology to deduce why that is not the case.
The story of the taxi driver
I would like to recount a brief conversation I had recently with a taxi driver in Aachen.
Me: How's business today?
Taxi driver: It's very busy this morning. A stressful day!
Me: Then you must be looking forward to your next day off.
Taxi driver: Yes, starting tomorrow I even have two weeks of vacation. I can hardly wait.
Me: Will you be traveling or staying at home in Aachen?
Taxi driver: No, I'm staying at home. I'd love to travel. But these days, that's not so easy anymore because it's so dangerous everywhere.
Me: Where would you like to go?
Taxi driver: I have a dream. I would love to fly to Australia. I have already seen many reports about "Down Under." I am fascinated by the endless expanse. But since there are only poisonous animals in Australia, I will not go there. It is too dangerous for me. It is best for me to stay in Aachen. Nothing will happen to me here.
Me: I'm sure you can find something enjoyable to do here too!
Taxi driver: No, I hardly ever go out privately here in Aachen. It's particularly dangerous in my neighborhood. I avoid going out in the evenings. Everything is so crime-ridden these days. I prefer to stay within the safety of my own four walls.
How do you feel when you read the lines about the taxi driver? Do you sympathize with him and think that he is restricting and limiting his own life?
Do you wonder how he came to his opinion? Or do you perhaps tell yourself that he he himself responsible for how he thinks?
Selective perception
Psychology refers to this phenomenon as selective perception. The basic idea behind this is that no human being can grasp objective reality. This is due solely to the fact that our perception is limited.
Thousands of pieces of information flood the human sensory organs every second. Consciously perceiving all of this would completely overwhelm us. Our organism is therefore equipped with certain filter mechanisms that ensure that only a certain portion of the total information reaches our consciousness.
The psychological "model of the world"
All stimuli and information that affect humans are absorbed through the five sensory organs. We feel, see, taste, hear, and smell. You can think of the sensory organs as a bottleneck. Only a fraction of the stimuli present are consciously perceived—in other words, they go directly into the bottleneck. The other stimuli are lost. This is a natural protection for humans against overload and sensory overload.
The three psychological filters
In the next step, there are three different types of "filters"that ensure that each person has their own individual view of the world.
- Neurological filters: These arise due to the biological and physical performance limits of the individual sensory organs. These limits are roughly the same for all humans. The sounds that bats emit to orient themselves, for example, are generally imperceptible to the human ear.
- Social filters: These are shaped by the culture or society in which a person grew up. For example, if people were raised with a certain religion, it will have a strong influence on their future lives, even if they later turn away from it. Their perception of the world is influenced.
- Individual filters: These are based on a person's unique, individual life story. This filter plays the most decisive role in determining the extent to which communication with others works. Let's say I'm flirting with someone. After being rejected five times by a potential partner, I might not try a sixth time, even though establishing contact would actually have worked.
The various filters help us focus on information that is truly important and meaningful.
Since every person is born into a different social environment and culture and has been shaped by different experiences, each individual's perspectives differ—sometimes enormously (social filters). In addition, information is further reduced by the experiences that person has had in life (individual filters).
The psychological mechanisms of generalization, suppression, and distortion
After information has been reduced by the three psychological filters, the mechanisms of generalization, suppression, and distortion.
- Generalization: An experience is assumed to be universally valid. You have an experience and apply it to all possible similar situations. Someone who has experienced a break-in might always suspect a burglar in dark rooms from then on.
- Suppression: Only certain stimulus information is selected. Attention is focused only on certain areas, while others are excluded. Although the person has only seen a burglar in a dark room once, they block out countless other situations in which there was no burglar there.
- Distortion: In our experience, sensory details are reinterpreted. One form of distortion is when people believe that others can read their minds. Typical statement:"You should have known that I value accuracy!"
Your personal view of the world
What remains after these filters are applied is a reduced, subjective view of things. This is called apersonal view of the world. It no longer has anything to do with the real world as we would find it without the psychological filters. As a result, every person comes to their individual view of the world. Accordingly, every worldview is considered correct and unique . All people act from a subjective point of view and make the right decisions.
At that moment, I empathized with the taxi driver because I knew that his personal perspective was completely correct on the one hand, but very limiting on the other. He doesn't see the world from the same perspective that you or I would see the same situation. This realization gives me personal peace and strength to view such moments with distance and humility. Above all, I try not to judge other people's perspectives negatively. Do you remember the blog title? After all, everyone is right...
How can you relate this topic to your everyday management activities?
In your daily interactions with employees, colleagues, family, or friends, you are constantly confronted with very different worldviews. How do you deal with the different perspectives of those around you in everyday life? Do you show understanding or do you reject some worldviews outright? Does it make sense to you—especially with the background knowledge of psychological filters—to want to sincerely understand your fellow human beings? To take the time to ask why people have their individual views of the world? I am firmly convinced that you will gain new insights into your fellow human beings that you would not have thought possible before.
Conclusion
No one sees the world as it is, but rather as they have been conditioned to see it. Everyone believes that their view is the correct one. After information has been filtered through psychological filters, they make the best decisions within the framework of their personal view of the world.
Imagine our planet in your mind's eye. Approximately 7.3 billion people currently live on it. Conversely, this means that there are around 7.3 billion different images of the world. All of them are subjectively correct. Now you can probably guess why this topic has affected me so emotionally. I hope you enjoy discovering all these different perspectives and the freedom to view them with a certain distance from your fellow human beings.
