Forming Impressions and Prejudice

FORMING IMPRESSIONS OF OTHERS

  • Person Perception Process: The process of forming impressions of others relies on five key sources:
    • Appearance: Visual cues such as clothing, grooming, and overall physical presentation.
    • Verbal Behavior: Communication based on what individuals say, including their choice of words and conversational style, which gives insight into their judgmental nature or supportiveness.
    • Actions: Behavioral indicators that may convey emotional states or intentions.
    • Nonverbal Messages: Body language, facial expressions, and other unspoken cues that can significantly impact impression formation.
    • Situational Cues: Contextual factors that provide additional information about individuals' behaviors and motivations.

IMPACT OF IMPRESSIONS

  • Weight of Bad Impressions:
    • Bad impressions have a greater influence than good impressions. An individual can possess many positive traits, but the presence of one bad trait (e.g., untrustworthiness) can overshadow them.
    • Example: A person considered warm, open, friendly, and clever can still be negatively judged if labeled untrustworthy. A single negative deed can taint a positive reputation, while a single positive act is insufficient to mend a damaged reputation.

JUDGMENT TYPES

  • Snap Judgments:

    • Quick assessments made based on minimal information and preconceived notions.
    • These judgments may often lack accurate representation and are typically used for superficial assessments.
    • Common in scenarios like employers evaluating job applicants.

  • Systematic Judgments:

    • More deliberate and time-consuming evaluations based on thorough analysis.
    • Important when the implications of the judgment could significantly impact one's happiness or welfare, such as in relationship decisions or career choices.
    • Involves observing individuals across various contexts and comparing their behaviors.

PERCEIVER EXPECTATIONS

  • Influence on Perception:

    • Perceiver expectations can affect actual perceptions, allowing for phenomena like confirmation bias and self-fulfilling prophecies.
    • Confirmation Bias:
    • The tendency to selectively seek out, remember, and prioritize information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory information.
    • Example: A study by Cohen (1981) demonstrated that people's memories of a woman's actions were influenced by whether they believed she was a waitress or a librarian, with corresponding stereotypes affecting recall.

  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:

    • Occurs when a perceiver's expectations about a person prompt that individual to act in ways that confirm those expectations.
    • Example:
    • Teacher expectations impacting student performance can lead to reinforcing behaviors due to the perceived label.
    • Steps involved:
      1. Perceiver forms an initial impression (e.g., "Mimi is smart").
      2. Perceiver interacts with the individual based on that impression (e.g., gives Mimi detailed questions and praise).
      3. The individual adjusts behavior in response to interactions (e.g., Mimi works harder to please the teacher).

COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

  • Nature of Cognitive Distortions:
    • Errors in perceptions caused by a need to save time, effort, and cognitive resources.
    • Individuals often categorize people and things into groups, leading to simplifications that may reduce the accuracy of impressions.
    • Common patterns include overestimating differences between groups while underestimating differences within groups.

INGROUP AND OUTGROUP DYNAMICS

  • Classification of Groups:
    • Individuals classify those similar to themselves as members of an ingroup ("us") and those dissimilar as members of an outgroup ("them").
    • Outgroup attitudes often less favorable, with individuals regarding outgroup members as more homogenous in behavior and less unique compared to ingroup members.
    • Outgroup Homogeneity Effect: The erroneous belief that members of outgroups are more alike than they actually are, while ingroup members are seen as diverse.
    • Evidence shows difficulty in distinguishing faces from racial outgroups compared to ingroup members.

STEREOTYPES

  • Definition and Impact of Stereotypes:
    • Stereotypes are broad generalizations that attribute specific characteristics to all members of a group based on their group membership (e.g., believing all Italians are loud and passionate).
    • While some stereotypes hold a kernel of truth, they can lead to errors in judgment, resulting in associations with:
    • Prejudice: Negative attitudes towards group members.
    • Discrimination: Unfair treatment towards individuals based on group characteristics, which can lead to dangerous split-second decisions influenced by spontaneously triggered stereotypes.

BEAUTY AND STEREOTYPING

  • What-is-Beautiful-Is-Good Stereotype:
    • Attractive individuals are often perceived to be happier, socially competent, assertive, better adjusted, and more intelligent than their less attractive counterparts.
    • Research indicates much of this perception lacks truth; however, attractive adults may exhibit better social skills and become more popular. No significant differences exist in intelligence, happiness, mental health, or self-esteem between attractive and unattractive individuals.

DEFENSIVE ATTRIBUTION

  • Definition:
    • A psychological mechanism where individuals blame victims for their misfortunes as a means of feeling less vulnerable to similar fates themselves, resembling the just-world hypothesis.
    • This self-protective strategy allows individuals to maintain a sense of control over their lives and sidesteps the harsh reality that bad events can occur randomly to anyone.
    • Common Example: Blaming the homeless for their plight instead of recognizing broader societal factors.

PROBLEM OF PREJUDICE

  • Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination:

    • Prejudice refers to negative attitudes or beliefs about specific groups, whereas discrimination involves negative behaviors towards these groups.
    • Distinction: A person may harbor prejudiced views without exhibiting discriminatory behavior (e.g., holding bias against a group but treating them fairly in practice), and vice versa.

  • Types of Discrimination:

    • Old-Fashioned Discrimination: Overtly discriminatory practices (e.g., segregation, disenfranchisement) have declined over time.
    • Modern Discrimination: Subtle, private negative attitudes expressed when conditions allow for such behaviors without repercussions (e.g., disfavoring candidates of color).
    • Both forms reflect larger systemic issues of racism and inequality in society.

ABLEISM

  • Definition:

    • A form of prejudice and discrimination directed at individuals with disabilities, resulting from predominant societal beliefs favoring able-bodied individuals as the normative standard.
    • People with disabilities receive signals that they are inherently lesser or need to be 'fixed'.
    • Example: Initiatives like the Jerry Lewis Telethon, which may inadvertently promote ableism by portraying individuals with disabilities in a tragic light rather than focusing on empowerment.

  • Combating Ableism:

    • Institutions, such as the University of Calgary, actively assess disability representation among employees and incorporate disability inquiries into hiring processes.

ROBBERS' CAVE EXPERIMENT

  • Overview:
    • Conducted by Sherif et al. in 1961, the experiment investigated intergroup conflict, stereotypes, and prejudice using 22 boys aged 11-12.
    • Stages of Experiment:
    1. Bonding Stage: Children created group names and engaged in cooperative activities to foster camaraderie.
    2. Competition Stage: Competitive activities led to aggression and hostility between groups.
    3. Reducing Friction: Tasks aimed at superordinate goals encouraged cooperation and reduced conflict.
    • Conclusion: Working collaboratively towards a common goal can effectively lessen intergroup conflict and prejudicial feelings.

FACTORS TO REDUCE INTERGROUP HOSTILITY

  • Four necessary factors established by Brewer & Brown in 1998 to lessen intergroup hostility:
    • Groups must collaborate towards a common goal (superordinate goal).
    • Cooperative efforts must yield successful outcomes.
    • Group members should establish meaningful contact with each other.
    • Intergroup interactions should occur on equal status to ensure fairness during contact.
    • A meta-analysis revealed that meeting these conditions notably reduces prejudicial attitudes.