Social Psychology - Chapter 5: Person Perception

person perception

people's perceptions of one another based on initial impressions of their behavior and assumptions concerning what characteristics correspond with that behavior

self-fulling prophecies

when an individual's expectations about someone else change his or her behavior

halo effect

when an entire social perception of a person is constructed around a single trait

central trait

a major characteristic of an individual's personality that indicates the presence of several associated traits, together creating a unified impression about the entire person

what is beautiful is good effect

when physical attractiveness creates a halo effect such that individuals who are beautiful are also perceived to have several other positive characteristics

attributional ambiguity

confusion individuals have concerning the cause of the way others treat them, experienced most often by members of stigmatized groups

nonverbal communication

the many ways individuals communicate through body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions

universality hypothesis

the idea that nonverbal facial expressions are universal, regardless of culture

converging evidence

occurs when different types of studies from independent researchers using different methods reach the same conclusions

microexpressions

an involuntary flash of emotional honesty

duping delight

the facial smirk that appears when people think that they have gotten away with a lie

Duchenne smile

a genuine smile that involves contraction of a particular set of facial muscles

affect blend

when two or more contradictory emotions are shown on different parts of an individual's face, making it difficult to accurately understand his or her expression

Cultureme

Culture-specific nonverbal communication such as inside jokes, religious symbols, official government seals, and corporate branding that represent cultural communication not understood by those outside of the culture and convey widely shared social impressions.

attribution theory

the idea that individuals attempt to understand the behavior of those around them by forming commonsense explanations for the cause of others' behavior

Attributions

how individuals explain the causes of others' actions and events

Principle of noncommon effects

the idea that individuals make attributions by looking for a single factor that seems to account for what occurred based on its degree of difference from the other possible factors

internal attribution

explanations for an individual's behavior that are based on factors that are within the person's control, such as an individuals personality or conscious choices

external attribution

explanations for an individual's behavior that are outside of the person's control, such as getting sick, the weather, or bad luck

Just world hypothesis

The idea that individuals have a need to believe that they live in a world where people generally get what they deserve, which can lead to incorrect internal attributions for others' behavior.

internal locus of control

the general belief that an individual is in control of his or her own fate

external locus of control

The general belief that one's future is up to fate, chance, powerful other people, or some higher power, rather than within that person's own control.

defensive attribution

attributions made by individuals to avoid feeling fear about the potential for future negative events

terror management theory

the idea that an awareness of our own mortality terrifies individuals, forcing them to cling to comforting beliefs

Worldview

the way an individual perceives and approaches the world

Covariation model of attribution

The idea that individuals make attributions concerning the cause of an event between two people, the actor and the target, by assessing these three dimensions: whether other people typically act that way toward the target (consensus), whether the actor typically behaves that way (distinctiveness), and whether the actor and target always act this way together (consistency).

Consensus

The dimension of Kelly's covariation model of attribution that refers to whether other people tend to act the same way toward the target person in the situation

Consistency

The dimension of Kelly's covariation model of attribution that refers to whether the actor in the situation tends to act the same way toward everyone

Distinctiveness

The dimension of Kelly's covariation model of attribution that refers to whether the same actor and same target always act the same way when together.

mortality salience

when researchers make the idea of death, especially an individual's own unavoidable death, more vivid

fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on other people's behavior.

actor-observer bias

An individual's tendency to think of personality when explaining other people's behavior but external, situational causes when explaining their own behavior.

false consensus effect

the false assumption that other people share our values

Truly False Consensus Effect

occurs when individuals believe that others share their beliefs

false uniqueness bias

the belief that we are more unique than others when it comes to socially desirable traits (also known as Lake Wobegon effect)