7A - Person Perception Flashcards
Social Cognition
How we judge others in social situations by interpreting and analysing information
Person Perception
Refers to the different mental processes used to understand and form impressions of other people
Information can be provided through two ways-
Directly - provided from the person we are judging, for example through observing them or interacting with them
Indirectly - through hearing about the person we are judging from another person or source for example through a friend or reading about someone online
First Impressions
Snap judgements made about someone in less than a second, based on easily accessible perceptual information
Schema
Our pre-existing mental ideas relating to a given concept that help us organise and interpret new information
Halo Effect
Cognitive bias in which one impression of a person influences our belief about their other qualities
Tri-Component Model Of Attitudes
The tri-component model of attitudes dictates that all three of the affective, behavioural and cognitive components must exist for an attitude to truly be present
- Affective is feeling
- Cognitive is thinking
- Behavioural is actions
Attitude
An evaluation (judgement) a person makes about an object, person, group, event or idea
Affective Component
Refers to people’s emotions and intuitive feelings towards something reflected in their attitude
Cognitive Component
Involves people’s thoughts and beliefs towards something
Behavioural Component
Describes people’s outward and observable actions that reflect their point of view about something
Stigma
The feeling of shame experienced by an individual for a characteristic that differentiates them from others
Attitudes Can Effect The Processes Of…
Decision-making-
Attitudes can inform choices from which clothes we wear to what food we eat
Interpersonal interactions-
For example, if we have a positive attitude towards our job, we may be more bubbly and form bonds with more people at the workplace
Stereotyping Helpful And Harmful
Helpful-
- offer us information that helps us interact with people we don’t know well
- allow us to make decisions about others more quickly
Harmful-
- often include incorrect information that leads to over generalisations about members
of a social group
- can lead to stigma
- can lead to prejudice
First Impressions Effect Processes Of…
Can impact processes-
Decision-making - person perception acts as a source of information when making choices, such as whether to see someone again
Interpersonal interactions - first impressions last, and we tend to trust these ‘gut’ feelings and can treat people accordingly
