FMST 314: Social Cognition

first impressions

formed in less than .1 secs, often long-lasting

• can lead to:

  • stereotypes

  • prejudice

  • discrimination

stereotype

oversimplifications of a group

prejudice

providing an explanation for these steroetypical beliefs

discrimination

taking deliberate action against members of a certain group

primacy effect

tendency for the first info we receive to carry more weight than later info

confirmation bias

tendency to seek/interpret info in ways that confirm what we already believe

internal attribution

we attribute characteristics to their personality

• eg: “they didn’t do the garbage bc they are lazy”

external attribution

we attribute characteristics to outside circumstances

• eg: they were late because the bus didn’t come

stable attribution

things that tend to last, eg: personality traits, abilities

unstable attribution

transient, eg: mood changes

controllable attribution

we can manage our behaviour, eg: how many times we press snooze

uncontrollable attribution

we cannot manage our behaviour, eg: someone turns off our alarm to wake up

actor/observer effects

creating one explanation for oru behaviour, while making different explanation for someone else’s identical behaviour

self-servicing bias

taking credit for your successes but blaming external factors for your failures

relationship-enhancing attribution

attributing positive behaviour to the effort they put in

distress-maintaining attribution

attributing negative behaviours to the lack of effort they put in

reconstructive memory

process of revising/reshaping memories based on current experiences/beliefs

marital paradigms

beliefs about what marriage should be like and how partners should behave in relationships

destiny beliefs

the belief that partners are either “meant to be”, relationships are either destined to work or doomed

growth beliefs

the belief that relationships develop thru effort, can overcome chalelnges

self-fulfiling prophecy

causes expectations to become reality

4 strategies to manage others’ perceptions of us

• self-promotion

• ingratiation

• intimidation

• weaponized incompetence

self-promotion

highlighting your achievements to seem capable

ingratiation

doing nice things so other people like you

intimidation

using threats/dominance to gain respect

weaponized incompetence

pretending to be incapable to avoid doing tasks/shift responsibility to others

high self monitors

• adapt behaviour based on context

• often have diverse but shallow relationships

low self-monitors

• behave consistently across situations

• tend to form fewer but deeper connections

accuracy of our perceptions depends on…

• our motivation to know them

• their readability

• our ability to judge them

factors that influence our perceptions of others

• implicit attitudes/transference

• projecting past expeirences onto others

• we are more accurate when we care about/invest understanding in someone

self-verification

the desire to receive feedback that confirms what we already believe about ourselves

transference

when we transfer feelings/expectations from one person onto someone new based on similarities

implicit attitudes

unconscious beliefs that influence how we feel/behave toward others

emotional intelligence

ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively in relationships