The sections in the book on schemata person prototypes, personal constructs and chronically accessible constructs make it sound impossible to perceive others without judging them – or at least putting them into categories. We use schemata to help organize new, unfamiliar information we receive (for example a first impression of someone) while person prototypes are ideal representations of a certain kind of person helping us decide what category someone should go into. Personal constructs are characteristics we notice on a daily basis about others and chronically accessible constructs are types of judgments we use regardless of the circumstances.
These concepts basically state that in a new situation or interaction we are constantly yet unintentionally taking in details about a person and trying to categorize him or her. In other words, we use these concepts as ways of judging people when we first perceive them. To make these judgments more fair, we can always change them later on once we get to know a person. Also, we can keep these judgments to ourselves and not act on them until we learn the facts.
My answer to this question was fairly similar to yours,except I incorporated how maturity plays into the idea of judging people. It is hard not to categorize someone when you first see them. In fact you are forced to put them in a category right away. As I've gotten older I've tried to wait to make a judgement until I have more exposure to the person at hand. If contact is limited it is much easier to judge. However, I feel like the more you get to know a person the easier in gets to sort of "uncategorize" them.
ReplyDeleteGood post!