Reality Versus Perceptions

Differences Between Perceived and Objective Realities and How Our Perceptions Negotiate
What We Believe to be True
Perceived reality is founded on what a person thinks or believes. Every person has a
different way of thinking, and this means that perceived reality varies from one person to the
next. Thinking is influenced by various factors. On the other hand, objective reality relates to
facts and what is real. It relates to the true state of something. Perceptions play the role of a lens
through which an individual views reality. Perceptions have an impact on how a person
remembers, synthesizes, and interprets the truth. In many cases, people tend to believe that their
perception of reality represents the true nature of things. However, the perceived reality is a
product of past experiences, knowledge, emotions, and cognitive distortions.
Attribution theory
Attribution theory suggests that people seek to explain different causes of behavior and
events. One arrives at causal explanations of events through attribution. One gathers information
and then formulates a judgment relating to events. Individuals try to explain behavior using
cause and effect relationships even when none exists. In explaining why an individual adopts a
certain behavior, they may attribute the behavior to one or more causes. The perception of reality
is thus affected by attributions that one makes. For example, if a person is angry, the behavior
can either be explained by the fact that the person is short-tempered or has been triggered by
something. Decisions are thus made based on attributions.
Bias

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Bias is characterized as a tendency or prejudice toward or against something. Bias is an
unreasoned judgment that is not founded on facts. One’s understanding of reality is affected by
biases that one may hold towards something or someone. If one fails to identify their biases, they
may get in the way of rational decision-making. Biases also help individuals filter information.
One may construct a reality that is not objective but rather based on past experiences (Perrotta,
2019). Biases help in reaching quick decisions. However, in some instances, these decisions may
not be rational. To this end, one must be aware of their biases in order to make rational decisions.
Bounded rationality
Bounded rationality alludes to the idea that individuals make a decision that is good
enough instead of arriving at the best possible decision. Decisions are driven by three major
factors, namely time constraints, the availability of limited information, and cognitive ability.
Rationality is limited in certain situations, and this means that individuals are forced to make
satisfactory decisions instead of optimal decisions. In a restaurant, one may be compelled to
make an order when a waiter asks them to order. In such a case, they may order what is
satisfactory instead of what is optimal due to the limited time to make the decision. One may
make an error in decision making, and decisions made may not be entirely rational.
Cognitive biases
A cognitive bias refers to errors that individuals make when interpreting information. It
refers to the deviation from rational decision-making unknowingly. It is a subconscious error that
results in individuals creating their own reality instead of relying on the objective reality. To this
end, one’s perception of reality is highly affected by cognitive bias. Cognitive bias results in
distortion of the truth and reality. It may result in irrational judgment as well as illogical

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interpretation of reality. However, in some situations, cognitive biases aid in the making of fast
decisions. Cognitive bias allows one to ignore certain information and to make decisions fast.
Conjunction fallacy
The conjunction fallacy is a situation where one judges the occurrence of two events in
conjunction to be more likely to occur than each event separately. It results when one views the
choices to be alternatives as opposed to being independent of each other. It violates the laws of
probability. It results in errors both in decision-making and perception of reality. It results in
assigning the occurrence of an event a higher probability than it should have. For example, take
two events where event one is the occurrence of a massive flood killing over 60,000 people, and
event two is an earthquake that causes a massive flood that kills 60,000 people. An analysis of
the events dictates that event one has a higher probability of occurring than event two. However,
many people who exhibit conjunction fallacy view event two to be more likely to occur than
event one. The reason is that event two is more detailed, and this triggers one to rely on a
heuristic. Decision-making in such a scenario is interfered with, and the perception of reality
moves away from the truth.
Primacy and recency effects
Primacy and recency effects suggest that information given at the beginning and at the
end is retained better compared to information given in the middle. People thus recall
information that is given at the beginning and the end of a sequence. If one has to rely on
information retained to make a decision, they are likely to make the decision that was at the start
and the end of a sequence. They thus may ignore some information, and this may result in

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erroneous decision-making. Perception about a person may be skewed based on the information
that they receive first.
Selective perceptions
Selective perception refers to the tendency not to notice information that causes
emotional discomfort or contradicts one prior belief. It means that one interprets information
based on expectations, and one does not take into account the entire set of information. One is
also likely to quickly forget information that is not aligned with their beliefs. One’s perception of
reality may be skewed since it is based on prior beliefs and experiences. Decision-making may
also be skewed because a person may fail to take into consideration the entire information.
Decisions made could be irrational because of some information that is skipped.
Contrast effect and Stereotyping
The contrast effect refers to judgment by comparing things instead of analyzing each item
individually. Erroneous conclusions could be made in such a case. Perception of reality is also
altered in such a case because the conclusions are made on comparisons as opposed to individual
analysis. Stereotyping creates generalized beliefs about a group of people. Stereotypes could be
true or untrue. In case they are untrue, one may make erroneous decisions as well as an
inaccurate understanding of reality.

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References

Perrotta, G. (2019). The Reality Plan and the Subjective Construction of One’s Perception: The
Strategic Theoretical Model among Sensations, Perceptions, Defence Mechanisms,
Needs, Personal Constructs, Beliefs System, Social Influences and Systematic Errors. J
Clinical Research and Reports, 1 (1); DOI: 10.31579. JCRR/2019/001.