Why is your date late for dinner? Why is your roommate failing their classes? Why did that driver just cut you off? Across interactions, we routinely form impressions of people that shape our relationships and interpersonal behavior. But how accurate are those perceptions? This presentation, which involves elements of social psychology and communication, explores influences on interpersonal perception, common perceptual errors, and strategies for improving how we perceive others.

Dr. Benjamin E. Custer is a visiting lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” as a 2x Fulbright grantee in Bulgaria (2021-2022, 2022-2023). He holds a PhD (2020) in communication with a minor in psychology from the University of Arizona, an M.A. (2014) in communication from Stanford University, and a B.S. (2011) in mass communications from Texas A&M University—Texarkana. His areas of study include interpersonal communication, mass communication, communication technologies, social psychology, and evolutionary psychology.