Reflection Paper

Blink, written by Malcolm Gladwell, talks about many theories and concepts within interpersonal communication and how they can impact our everyday interactions and our first impressions. One of the main focuses of chapters one through three is the concept of “thin-slicing”. When Gladwell talks about the theory of thin-slicing, he is referring to how we unconsciously processes develop certain situations. Our unconscious can find patterns of behavior, based solely on small portions of our personal experiences. (Gladwell, 2007).

In Blink, many examples are given of scenarios when thin-slicing is used and how they affect the outcome of these interactions.

Thin-slicing can be better in certain situations than others, as seen when Gladwell takes notice of how thin-slicing can improve how we react to a situation. Thin-slicing can help be a determining factor of character. By reading a situation accurately and taking note of the interactions that take place, we can better understand the dynamics of a situation and how to react to the dynamic that we have determined.

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Gladwell talks about this when he talks about the successful car salesmen and their success. This specific salesman contributes his success to the way he treats his customers. When he treats his customers with fairness, he is not only thin-slicing based on their first impression, but he is using that to his advantage by catering to their needs in the best way possible. (Gladwell, 2007) . Thin-slicing can be used to help us read a situation and help us understand how to react to a situation, both of which are extremely beneficial in interpersonal relationships.

We are most likely to be wrong in process situations when thin-slicing, because of our little knowledge of the situation. When we use thin-slicing to make a quick judgment about someone, we are taking what little knowledge we have gained from a prior experience. From there, regardless of if we are aware of it or not, we start to use the prior experience and knowledge that we have of a situation to shape our thoughts, whether it be of a person or a situation. A common example of being wrong when thin-slicing is seen when a racial bias, a gender bias, or a cultural bias is involved. In the book, Gladwell writes about an example of a situation when a racial bias is present when he talks about “the lack of women or minorities among the top executive ranks” in big companies and corporations. (Gladwell, 2007). It isn’t a decision consciously influenced by prejudice; it is influenced by our own unconscious biases. According to the book, this is because we have a stereotype built into our head of someone a leader should resemble in terms of physical features, and when someone who doesn’t fit that set of values that are created by stereotypes we’ve built in our head, it becomes extremely difficult to see anyone else as a potential candidate for a position of leadership. (Gladwell, 2007).

This can be connected to several concepts that appear in chapter 6 of the textbook. One of the most prominent topics that I can relate to Blink is the concept of a relational schema. A relational schema, according to the text, is “a cognitive representation of typical interaction patterns.” (Trenholm & Jensen, 2013). In my opinion, this relates closely to Blink and the theory of “thin-slicing”. Since thin-slicing is used when we make first impressions, the relational schema is extremely present. When we are thin-slicing, we often have a certain idea of what expectation is in the relationship we have with the person. For example, in Blink, there is mention of the relationship between the car salesman and a customer. In this particular relationship, there is an expectation that no intimate connection is made. The salesman is put in a position where he almost has to rely on thin-slicing to understand what the customer needs. Gladwell talks about how the salesman has to evaluate the dynamic between the two customers and, based on how the dynamic reads, quickly adjust to it. (Gladwell, 2007). It is a surface-level connection between seller and buyer, meaning that no great depth is reached by conversation, but the observations can tell the salesmen everything.

The typical conversation within the interaction follows a script, which, according to the book, is a “highly predictable sequence of behavior or an event that guides us into an understanding of what will happen next in a situation.” ( Trenholm & Jensen, 2013). Conversations that follow a script when it comes to a relationship between buyer and seller are similar all across the board. They will ask you how you are, and abstractions understand scan what you are looking for, and that is about as surface level as the conversation will get. Using this same example, we can see an example of self-schemata in both roles. Self-schemata includes abstraction such as aspirations, values, attributes, preferences, and behavioral routines. (Trenholm & Jensen, 2013). A self-schemata in this situation would be the role that the businessman carries with his behavioral role. A businessman is to remain professional in a work environment. The person who carries this role understands this and understand that they have to remain professional as part of their “behavioral routine”.

Based on what I found in Blink, I am able to apply this research to everyday situations in my life. Oftentimes, I find myself using my past experiences to formulate outcomes of situations I do not know about. I also use my experiences with people to formulate ideas about specific people in my head. I learned that it’s extremely easy to let this happen, and it can change how we interact with people in the situations we are faced with. To me, I think being aware of the situation is the first step in fixing it. I never knew that thin-slicing was real. I always thought that I would use the present situation to evaluate my thoughts and opinions on someone. After reading Blink, I was faced with the reality that using only details in the present situation that one faces is rarely the case. One of the primary examples of this in my life comes when I meet potential candidates for a boyfriend. In the past, I have had relationships that aren’t ideal. The guy that I thought was the love of my life ended up being something far from that, and it changed me as a person. From that point forward, it was hard for me to meet men that I could potentially date. I used my past experiences to hold me back from being able to remove any bias toward any guy that I have been talking to. I used these experiences with the guy that I thought to be the love of my life and continued forward, only basing my opinions of men on bad experiences. This lead me to shut down many opportunities because I thought that every guy in my life was going to do the same. It became extremely dangerous because I saw myself turning bitter because of how quickly I was thin-slicing based on my previous experiences. . Thin-slicing has kept me from potentially living my life, and it’s important to use that experience to grow, but it should not define each interaction going forward.

Overall, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell goes into extreme depth about why we think the ways that we do in many different situations, using thin-slicing as a primary focal point. Thin slicing has many benefits to it, such as reading a conversation the right way. Thin-slicing can also have many downfalls. In opportunities where we use thin-slicing to make judgments that are influenced by our subconscious perceptions of differences in race, gender, and culture, we are more inclined to make a decision that fits the stereotype in our head. Many ideas can be taken away from Blink to help develop stronger personal connections in our daily lives. We can use the ideas of Malcolm Gladwell to develop stronger communication and decrease our unconscious biases, which will lead us to developing stronger, healthier relationships with everyone we meet.