Social Perception

Social Psychology

  • Social Perception

    • Course offered at NYU London, Spring 2025, Sessions 6 & 7.

Recap Activity

  • Utilize Poll Everywhere for session interaction:

    • Access via browser: PollEv.com/MattGobel

    • Or download the Poll Everywhere app.

Key Concepts of Self

  • Onion Analogy:

    • We are layered, multifaceted, and context-dependent in our self-concepts.

  • Inherently Social Self:

    • Self-knowledge comes from introspection and comparisons with others.

  • Positive Self-Enhancement:

    • Preference for interactions that provide self-enhancing or validating feedback.

Understanding the Self

  1. Who are you?

  2. How do I know who you are?

  3. How do I explain your behavior?

    • Focus Areas: First impressions, making attributions, understanding behavior, and nonverbal cues.

Impression Formation

  • Definition:

    • Process where we form impressions of others based on first impressions and traits interacting dynamically.

  • Asch's Perspective (1946):

    • The perception of a person evolves as traits interact rather than existing in isolation.

Impression Formation Effects

  • Primacy Effect:

    • Earlier information is weighted more heavily than later information in impression formation.

  • Recency Effect:

    • Later information may be given more weight compared to earlier info, depending on the context.

  • Halo Effect:

    • Global positive evaluation influences perception of specific personality traits.

Person Perception

  • Definition:

    • Learning and forming impressions about others based on minimal information such as appearance and initial interaction cues.

Research on CEO Appearance

  • Rule & Ambady (2008):

    • Study linking CEO's appearance to company performance:

      • Sample: Photographs of CEOs from top and bottom Fortune 500 companies judged by 100 undergraduates.

      • Ratings included traits like competence, dominance, likeability, and their correlation to company revenues and profits.

Detecting Deception

  • Challenges:

    • Expectation of honesty leads to a bias towards believing people.

    • Liars often give off faint cues, especially with inconsequential lies (DePaulo et al., 2003).

    • Common overestimation of our ability to detect lies.

Summary on Person Perception and Impression Formation

  • Distinction between impression formation and person perception yields significant differences in outcomes.

  • General aptitude for quick, accurate first impressions contrasted with difficulty in detecting lies.

Nonverbal Behavior (NVB)

  • Definition:

    • Communication through any non-verbal means including body language and facial expressions.

  • Channels:

    • Includes facial expressions, eye contact, body language, touch, and interpersonal distance.

Thin Slices of NVB

  • Concept:

    • Small amounts of information used to form first impressions.

    • Studies indicate striking accuracy even from very brief and minimal exposures such as photographs or short videos.

Studies Related to Thin Slices

  • Ambady & Rosenthal (1993):

    • Found significant correlation between teacher evaluations and brief observations of nonverbal behavior.

      • Participants viewed videos of teaching, leading to evaluations based on NVB.

NVB in Hierarchies

  • Kraus & Keltner (2009):

    • Investigated how socioeconomic status correlates with nonverbal behavior.

      • Findings indicate that upper SES participants show more disengaging NVB, while lower SES participants display more engaging NVB.

Attributions

  • Causal Attribution:

    • Process to determine causes of behavior attributed to either internal (disposition) or external (situation) factors.

  • Covariation Theory (Kelley, 1967):

    • Consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus determine attribution type; high consistency leads to dispositional attributions when distinctiveness and consensus are low.

Fundamental Attribution Error

  • Definition:

    • Overestimation of personal attributes and underestimation of situational impacts when evaluating others' behavior.

  • Examples in Research:

    • Common bias evident in various studies, such as participants misattributing author attitudes based on assigned topics.

Cultural Differences in Attribution

  • Western vs. East Asian Perspectives:

    • Individuals from East Asia tend to make fewer dispositional attributions compared to more situational attributions than their Western counterparts.

  • Field Independence vs. Dependence:

    • Western cultures typically show field independence, while East Asian cultures demonstrate field dependence.

Conclusion

  • Key Takeaways:

    • Social perception influenced by nonverbal behaviors and cultural context.

    • Importance of first impressions and a nuanced understanding of causal attributions.

References

  • Cited works by:

    • Ambady & Rosenthal, Asch, Cuddy et al., Ekman & O'Sullivan, Gilbert & Malone, Heider, Jones & Harris, Kelley, Kraus & Keltner, and Masuda & Nisbett.