Social Perception

social perception (person perception)

how we form impressions of others and explain their behavior

implicit personality theory (Asch)

our “naive psychology”- we intuitively link traits that go together

• if someone is warm, they are also generous and caring

central traits

powerful traits (warm-cold) that shape overall impression

• cold makes a person seem less likeable, even with positive traits

order effects

first and last information shape impressions most strongly

primary effect

first info has strongest impact

recency effect

last info has strong impact (when memory is fresh)

attractiveness positivity bias

“what is beautiful is good”- attractive people are seen as more likable and competent

nonverbal cues

facial expressions (emotions shown of face), eye contact (attention, interest, hostility), proxemics (use of space), kinesics (posture, movement), paralanguage (tone, pitch, speed of pitch)

display rules

cultural norms about when to show emotion

microexpressions

brief flashes that reveal true feelings (1/5 sec)

attribution

explanation of cause of behavior- internal (dispositional) vs. external (situational)

internal attribution (dispositional)

behavior caused by personality, ability, character, or motivation

external attribution (situational)

behavior caused by outside factors like circumstances, other people, luck

covariation model (kelley)

we look at 3 things to decide internal vs. external cause: consensus, consistency, distinctiveness

consensus

do others act this way too?

• if everyone is late —> external cause (traffic)

• if only one person is late —> internal cause (irresponsible)

consistency

does this person act this way over time?

• if person is late every day —> internal attribution

• if late only once —> external attribution

distinctiveness

is the behavior specific to one situation?

• if a person is angry in only this situation —> external attribution

  • if person is angry in all situations —> internal attribution

self-serving bias

success= internal attribution (i’m smart)

failure= external attribution (unfair situation)

fundamental attribution error (correspondence bias)

we overestimate internal causes and underestimate situational ones when judging others

actor-observer effect

for ourselves: focus on situation —> external attributions

for others: focus on person —> internal attributions

self-fulfilling prophecy

our expectations influence others’ behaviors so they confirm our expectations

• teachers’ expectations imporved children’s performance

behavioral confirmation

our beliefs about others shape how we act toward them, causing them to behave in ways that confirm those beliefs