PSYC213 - Social Perception

social perception

the process by which people come to understand on another

system 1 for thinking

fast, automatic, impulsive, effortless, outside of awareness

system 2 for thinking

slow, controlled, reflective, deliberative, conscious

snap judgements

first impressions subtly influences by persons appearance

quite accurate

we see whether they should be approached or avoided

Darwin’s conception of universality of emotion expression

high accuracy for anger, happiness, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise

however, recent review of 1k+ studies suggests more nuanced effect in recognizing emotional expression

situational inferences

attributing behavior to the environment

dispositional inferences

attributing behavior to the person’s disposition and traits

what are attribution theories

describe how ppl explain the causes of their own and others behavior

jones’s correspondent inference theory

ppl try to infer from an action whether the act itself corresponds to an enduring personal characteristic of the actor

people make inferences based on what factors (JONES)

persons degree of choice

expectedness of the behavior

intended effects of someone’s behavior

Kelly’s covariation theory

people make attributions by considering potential causes that co-occur with the behavior

what are the kinds of covariation information? (KELLY)

consensus

distinctiveness

consistency

• situational attribution when high on all three dimensions

• personal attribution when low on consensus and distinctiveness

Fundamental attribution error/correspondence bias

our tendency to overestimate the role of personal factors

overlook the impact of situational factors

weighing the cause of behavior

sometimes information available suggests either personal/situational factors might be responsible for the behavior

discounting principle (weighing cause of behavior)

reduced weighting to a particular cause of behavior if there are other plausible causes

augmentation principle (weighing cause of behavior)

greater weighting to a particular cause of behavior if there are other causes that normally would produce the opposite effect

actor/observer difference

tendency to see other ppl’s behavior as dispositionally caused but focusing on situational factors when explaining our own

only emerges for negative events

misattribution

incorrectly identifying source of physiological feeling (on bridge ❤ or just scared)

confirmation bias

our tendency to seek, interpret, and create information that verifies existing beliefs

confirmatory hypothesis testing

choosing leading questions which lead observers to reach the same conclusion

motivated reasoning

the process by which individuals distort incoming information to align with prior beliefs (female coffee drinkers)

has emotional stake involved

self fulfilling prophecy

process by which ones expectations eventually lead that person to behave in ways the confirm those expectations

however- naturalistic studies reveal very weak effects

learned helplessness

repeated failure experiences can lead to actual reduction in expectations and or performance

counterfactual thinking

attributions and thoughts influenced by what might have, could have, or should have happened if only minor details were different.

framing effects

condom with 90% success rate perceived safer than 10% failure rate

when do we use cognitive biases/shortcuts?

when our attentional resources are depleted

• tired

• in a hurry

• complex situation

when the mood is right

• happy

• physiologically aroused