Social Perception and Person Perception

Perception is the method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion.

When a person perceives any object, person, event or any other stimulus, he always interprets those stimuli keeping in mind his social norms, cultural values, cognition, prior experience, etc. Psychological perception can be:

i. Non-social or object person: perception of inanimate stimuli.

ii. Social perception: process of perceiving other persons and oneself.

Social perception definitions:

Social perception means the expansion of the person’s complete knowledge in relation to the social situation (Pialport, 1955).

Social perception means the means by which we perceive, evaluate, generalize and form judgements regarding the qualities of other people (Crooks, 1991).

Hence, social perception is the process through which we seek to know other people.

Features of social perception:

1. Under social perception, the impact of social and subjective factors on direct organization is studied. For example, under this an attempt is made to find out whether factors like motivation, emotion and values affect our perception, if so, then how?

2. The main essential parts of social perception are person perception, image reflection and self-realization.

3. Psychologists have considered social perception as a social cognitive process, in which a person broadens and expands his knowledge and understanding by interpreting the info or data received from the environment in the context of the social situation.

4. The specialty of selective organization is found in social perception.

5. Perceptual defense, perceptual stress and subconscious perception are the main determining factors of social perception.


Person Perception

Individual perception refers to the social form of perception and social action in which a person forms or decides his personal opinion, idea, image or perception about other people around him. It depends on the sensory experience of the perceiver as well as on info received from other individuals. Person/ individual perception depends on three circumstances:

i. What is the amount of info received by the perceiver while making decisions about other people?

ii. What kind of interactions are there between the perceiver and the other people?

iii. To what extent is the relationship established between the perceiver and other persons?

Person perception means perception of another person (Heider, 1958).

Person perception is the process by which images, opinions, or feelings are formed in relation to other people (Sekoi & Jackman, 1964).

The way in which special qualities are used in creating an overall image in relation to others is called Person perception (Feldman, 1985).

Characteristics of Person Perception:

1. Living persons perceive each other.

2. One person creates an image or gives a judgement about another person. This is why individual perception is called image formation or decision process.

3. This process is mutual: if one person creates an image or makes a decision towards another person then the second person also creates an image or makes a decision towards the first person; that is why person perception is also called interpersonal perception.

4. Due to being mainly determined by the psychological environment, the quality of complexity is found in individual perception.

5. Person perception is a very important means of knowing the attitudes, mental tendencies, basic mechanisms, prejudices, stereotypes, beliefs, etc., of the perceiver. Because a person basically relies on these personal factors while perceiving others, creating an image or taking decisions.

6. The quality of ambiguity exists in person perception.

7. Persons are perceived at different levels of complexity, which vary from person to person.

Modes of person perception:

1. A person is described in terms of outward appearance.

2. A person is described mostly in terms of central trait and its immediate implications. For example, an extrovert may be described as happy, outspoken, and caring.

3. A person is described in terms of a cluster of congruous traits, i.e., traits which seem to belong together. For example, a person having a tall and muscular body build-up may be perceived as an aggressive person.

4. A person is described in terms of varieties of traits, including some incongruous traits only. Incongruous traits are traits which seem to not belong together. For e.g., a person by described as hard working and honest but aggressive and introverted.



To conclude, social perception is more general than person perception. In social perception, perception is formed by the influence of groups and social influences. It seeks to understand social thought and behavior. On the other hand, person perception refers to the manner in which impressions, opinions or feelings about other persons are formed. In person perception, perception of a person is formed independent of the world the target is living in.