Perception

…is a choice, based on our beliefs, experiences, fears, desires… The story your brain chooses to tell’.

A line taken from 2:22 A Ghost Story (a very well recommended play) that I was reading in my monthly Actors’ Club. Aside from the completely unforeseen twist at the end (no spoilers), this line really stopped me in my tracks. Perception is the story that our brain chooses to tell.

Our brains. That are all completely individual and have lived our lives with us. Having had different training, different experiences, different upbringings, different cultures, different jobs, different social capital and so on. These brains create a perception of the world around us.

Based upon that, how can we even begin to expect my perception, to be the same as yours, to be the same as anyone’s for that matter?

The question is, who’s perception is accurate?

They say there’s 3 sides to every story. Person A’s, Person B’s, and then what actually happened. If we reflect on our own lives, perhaps when considering arguments with partners, friends, or parents, this probably feels fairly accurate.  Usually, the truth lies somewhere between recollection A and recollection B (with exceptions of course under differing contexts). Naturally, if there are more than two people involved then there will be multiple recollections, with plenty of contrast and conflict, as well as areas of intertwine in amongst those recollections. 

However, how do we decide what is actually correct? Which brain is telling the accurate story?   How do we piece together the truth in what actually happened, vs what may have been elaborated, exaggerated or completely false to begin with? Is it even your story, or your perception to begin with?

Translate this from our personal lives where this difference of perception may simply be a difference in who remembered telling who to put the bins out, to the professional environment, perhaps within safety investigations, incident analysis, or cultural exploration.  

The false belief in these instances may be that the human involved has deliberately ‘tampered’ with the recollection or memory of an event, or experience. Now, in a very small minority of cases that may be the case, perhaps when the individual is particularly worried about the consequence or how they may be perceived by others. But in the majority of cases, difference in recollection or account of an event are likely influenced by the concept of perception.  

Perception to an individual, is their reality. It’s their view of the world, in that moment, considering the influences and conditions they are operating within, for example the environment, culture, technology etc.  Perception also has links with memory, and how ‘data’ (sights, sounds, smells tastes and feel) is processed and transferred from the working memory into the long-term memory. Significant or traumatic events, or elements of them for example may not be imprinted into the long-term memory, and therefore might present in individuals as not being able to recall detail about an event, or in extreme events, complete gaps in memory. Other influencing factors such as illusion, workload, context, and time pressure, may constrict the processing ability of a Human and therefore the recall. 

We can also be influenced by how we perceive a scenario, particularly when it comes to our interpretation of risk. Some of the subjective factors that influence our interpretation according to Ropeik (2021) include:

• Trust – the more we trust the person, institution, culture or situation associated with a risk, the less fear we will experience.

• Control and uncertainty – the more control we as humans have in a situation, the less fear we will experience.  Ever heard the phrase ‘fear of the unknown’? As humans we thrive on certainty, stability, and control, so situations that present without security in these three elements will contribute to our interpretation of risk of a situation.

• Awareness (and visibility) – the more aware of a risk we are, the greater the fear we experience is. An example relates to how social media, and tabloids can really influence the feeling and sense of fear amongst a population, as they have the ability to influence the opinion of society en masse, particularly when a particular topic is repetitively mentioned or focused on.

• Could it happen to me? – A situation that is perceived as ‘closer to home’ – perhaps in terms of relatability to an individual is likely to drive a higher sense of fear.

• Catastrophic or chronic? – situations that may lead to a larger negative impact, rather than a longer, sustained impact, are often perceived by humans as scarier. 

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These subjective factors are influenced by our individual perception. For example, Person A may not trust Person B and perceive an idea they have as particularly risky, and therefore it may drive an increased state of fear.  However, Person B’s best friend (let’s call them Person C) may trust them explicitly and may perceive their idea as risk-free and therefore be very comfortable with progressing with it.

Neither Person A nor Person C is incorrect per se in their perception and they both have right to feel how they do in the instance. Of course, we can’t take away people’s individual experiences in life – nor should we, they can often be important, relevant and add additional context to a decision-making process.  However, when it comes to managing risk, it is key to understand that how an individual perceives or interprets something, is their reality in that moment.

Similarly, with cultural exploration. When exploring Safety Culture, it’s key to really listen to what the people who work within the culture every single day are experiencing. It really doesn’t matter if we think that what someone is telling us isn’t true, because to that individual, their perception is what’s influencing their reality, and therefore their behaviour, their actions, and their attitudes in the workplace. What we should focus our energy and time on, is understanding what has led to, or why that person perceives their surroundings as such. 

What's the key takeaway then?

The key to understanding the influence of perception is that at that point in time, to that individual, their perception of the world around them, made absolute sense to them.  

Exploring human information processing