Perception is selecting and processing sensory information. Yet, through processing, we may alter the interpretive qualities of what we perceive. Emotion is one of the fallibilities of perception. Our emotional state arises because of a particular series of events or because we are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Our mood or emotional state triggers perceptual expectations and we then become accustomed to perceiving things in accord to our mood. Thus, mood does in fact affect the way we perceive things.
For example, when a person is in a very happy mood, a state where that person can say “this the happiest moment of my life,” this person would certainly perceive things more optimistically, positively and joyfully than a person who is in a very bad mood who will certainly perceive things pessimistically, negatively and angrily. I have personally experienced a similar example mentioned above. For instance, the day I learned that I was going back to school (after not attending school for a year) I was so happy and hungry for knowledge.
I was so excited and eager to learn new things and do any of the homework that will be assigned to me. But as days passed and I became fed up and tired of school, I was very annoyed at the fact that teachers were bombarding us, the students, with homework and assignment (this is exactly what I feel right now). Another example of mood affecting the way we perceive things is when a person is in a state of depression (or consolation). A person who has just lost the rest of their family in a car accident would think it as the end of the world.
This person would definitely find no meaning to his or her life, and would have the urge to commit suicide or to do violent things as a way to express their emotion to the world. Furthermore, this person wouldn’t be concerned as much as a normal person if he or she lost all his or her money because the person is already in a state of depression. An example of emotions affecting the perception of things can be seen in school everyday.
For example, we see students and teachers over-exaggerating, complaining, and daydreaming depending on their moods. Also, students are sometimes lucky when the teacher postpones a major assignment because he or she is either happy or tired of grading all the assignments he or she has assigned previously. It is clear that our moods and emotions alter the way in which we perceive things around us. Our emotions can affect our visual and auditory senses or even our intuitive perception.
Because perception has so many fallibilities, we cannot rely on our senses because we will never be completely neutral or void of any emotion. Thus, we should examine what we perceive and assess the extent to which it might be diverted from the sense datum. Awareness of how much an emotion or mood alters perception would reduce the extent to which perceptual illusion misleads us and our perception of the world would be more cognitive and pertaining to reason rather than subconscious emotion.