Social Psych (Aronson) - Chapter 4: Social Perception

Person Perception

The study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about other people.

To learn about other people, we rely on?

Their physical appearance, and verbal and nonverbal communication.

Nonverbal communication

The way in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without words—including through facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position and movement, touch, and gaze

Nonverbal behavior is used to express?

Emotion, convey attitudes, communicate personality traits, and facilitate or modify verbal communication.

Detecting Deception

Microexpressions and

Interchannel discrepancies

Microexpressions

Brief, slight shifts in facial expression. (Usually) increase during deception

EX: unpleasant voice shifts, brief head shaking and negative facial expressions

Interchannel discrepancies

Different lines of communication conflict

Ex. Verbal comm is confident and certain but body language timid and nervous

Who is very skilled at detecting deception?

Federal Officers

Attribution Theory

How people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that these assessments have

Fritz Heider (1958): Two Sources of Behavior

Internal attribution: dispositional, External attribution: situational

Internal Attribution

(dispositional) caused by person's disposition (traits)

External attribution

(situational) caused by the situation.

Attribution Theory & Relationships: Happy marriages

Internal attributions for partner's +

External attributions for partner's −

Attribution Theory & Relationships: Unhappy marriages

Internal attributions for partner's −

External attributions for partner's +

The Tale of Ralph & Joan is an example of

Internal attributions and External attributions

Kelley's Covariation Model (1967)

Fundamental Attribution Error, Actor/Observer Difference, Self-Serving Attributions, Defensive Attributions

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

A consistent tendency to err in one direction when making attributions

EX: Overestimate dispositional factors, Underestimate situational factors

Actor/Observer Difference

The tendency to see other people's behavior as dispositionally caused, while focusing more on the role of situational factors when explaining one's own behavior

Actor/Observer Difference EX?

Other people's behavior: dispositional factors exaggerated, One's own behavior: situational factors exaggerated

Self-Serving Biases

A category of biases that tend to enhance self-esteem

Internal attributions for own successes, External attributions for own failures

False Consensus Effect

We exaggerate how common our own behavior and opinions are to:

Makes us feel normal, good, Our opinions and beliefs are salient to us, We seek out others who are similar to us

False Uniqueness Effect

We exaggerate how different our own behavior and opinions are

Egocentric Bias

We exaggerate our own contributions to shared activities

EX: When husband and wives estimated how often each did the chores, their % added up to more than 100%

Better-than-average effect

We tend to estimate that we are better than the average person at most things (writing, intelligence, attractiveness, social skills)

Spotlight Effect

We believe others notice us more than they actually do

Illusion of transparency

We also believe our internal states are more obvious to others than they actually are

EX: Liars believe the other person is more suspicious than they actually are

Defensive Attributions

Are explanations for behavior or outcomes (e.g., tragic events) that avoid feelings of vulnerability and mortality.

Unrealistic Optimism

Good things more likely for self than others; reverse for bad things

Belief in a Just World

Bad things happen to bad people; Good things happen to good people;

Two Types of Defensive Attributions

Unrealistic Optimism and Belief in a Just World