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Changing Perspective Annie McDaniel PSY/220 November 27, 2011 Tricia Henderson, M. Ed.
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We form our perspectives on life filtered and changed by our lenses of experience, prejudice, viewpoint, and our personal outlook on life. Change the lens, you change the perspective, you change the approach. The reality of the situation has not changed. Only our view of it changes. All aspects of life are open to our own interpretations. (Gibson, 2001) It is crucial to learn that our perspectives can be changed. Our perspective is a tool in our lives. A personal perspective is determined by the way they look at the world around them. Two different people will have entirely different perspectives on the same external situation. Factors that affect our individual perspectives are culture, personal beliefs, religious upbringing, societal norms, and environment. In this scenario, we will evaluate the differing perspectives adopted by two teenage girls placed in the same situation. The first girl, Peggy, attends a four year university. She obtain her final grades and is dismayed to learn that she received only a C+ in a class for the semester. This may not shock some of her classmates, but she is at the university on a scholarship and cannot afford to pay for her schooling if she loses her scholarship because of a low grade. This grade may not affect another student, but it will cost Peggy her scholarship. This is a deep disappointment to her, since she has applied herself and been dedicated to her schooling. When she arrives back to her dorm, she is inconsolable. She finds herself at fault. Peggy prepares to leave for the summer, deep in thought about her predicament. Her roommate, DeAnna, inquires about her mood. Peggy details the situation, describing her deep disappointment at receiving a C+ and the price she will pay for receiving it. Peggy says that she is very depressed because she feels
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responsible for not obtaining a higher grade, and the consequences are so severe for both her, and her family. DeAnna responds with a laugh, saying that she received a D- in a class this term. DeAnnas parents are carrying the financial burden for her schooling at the university, so she is unconcerned about her performance as her poor grades will not affect her ability to stay in school. DeAnna cannot relate to Peggys predicament since her circumstance are so dissimilar and she in not empathic individual. Peggy sees that DeAnna cannot relate to her situation at all and does not understand the atrocity of the consequences for Peggy. Peggy will have to leave the university since she does not have the financial resources to return without the scholarship. Peggys family does not have the financial advantage that DeAnnas enjoys. Peggy sees success as arising from dedication to the work at hand, while DeAnna enjoys the luxury of university life without the responsibilities. This is the source of Peggys despair and anger. DeAnnas family is very wealthy, so her circumstances have allowed her to shun responsibility. Her family did not teach her the need to work for her goals. She takes most things that we work for lightly. DeAnna does not see that other people are less fortunate than her, so she looks at Peggys problem as perplexing and funny. The main difference in their appraisal of the situation is in their upbringing. DeAnna simply does not have the training to understand the severity of Peggys situation. DeAnna made a snap judgment regarding Peggys circumstances. DeAnna has no compassion for the
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atrocity of the situation that Peggy may face. If she could see the situation from her friends viewpoint, she would be able to respond with greater compassion. Both of these students were raised in American society in similar cultural settings. Our society places money in high respect, which has influenced each of the students perspective. DeAnna was taught that money placed you above others in society. Peggys family focused on the achievement that can be made if you apply yourself and work hard in a self-motivated way. Both families come from an American, money centered viewpoint, but they have instilled different sets of values in their children. Cultural influences come through in different ways from different people. Each is driven by societal norms that revolve around money and it is access to power, but each one has interpreted the information differently. (Bolt, 2004) Peggys perspective is colored by her home environment. She was raised to work hard and apply this to her university work. The C+ was a huge blow to her. DeAnna does not care about the D- she received for her term grade. She will be able to go forward and obtain a degree even though her grades are not exemplary. These two different perspectives and interpretations are arrived at in different ways. Peggys experience is life changing, DeAnnas experience in not even a minor inconvenience to her. If these two could change places, they would be able to understand each anothers viewpoint. If they could look at each other personal view they may better understand one another point of view, in this
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situation. Each girls cultural and personal beliefs were influenced by ones environment. They are seeing the same circumstance through different lenses. Our interpretations are open to change. If we can change our viewpoint, we can see the situation in a new way. This would allow us to alter our perspective. These girls could not modify their perspective to allow the others one point of view. This led DeAnna to respond without empathy for Peggy when she would have been a better friend if she had supported Peggy. This led to DeAnna making a snap judgment about her friend that was not valid. In this paper, I have tried to show how two people who seem to share similar backgrounds can interpret a similar situation in very dissimilar ways. The girls similarities are outweighed by their personal experiences. These experiences have colored their perspective to the extent that they do not have empathy for one another. Without this capacity, it is impossible to put oneself into another persons shoes so that he/she may become compassionate toward the others circumstance. This is an over whelming loss for both parties. On Many people do not want to be bothered with how other people live. We could thrive better in society if our members could foster compassion for the lives of others. We would also receive greater compassion from others if we opened our hearts more often in life. It is beneficial and desirable to learn to change our perspective to accommodate more than one narrow viewpoint.
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References:
Bolt, M (2004) Pursuing Human Strengths: A Positive Psychology Guide University of Phoenix New York, N.Y. Worth Publishing Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY/220 Gibson, D. (2001) Changing Your Life Through Changing Your Viewpoint Retrieved from [Link]