Ch4: Social Cognition

Question 1

social cognition

Answer 1

all the processes of perception, interpretation, belief, and memory with which we evaluate and understand ourselves and other people

Question 2

how do first impressions impact interactions and relationships

Answer 2

• first impressions have enormous staying power with our initial perceptions continuing to be influential months later
• can be persistent even if erroneous
• we start judging others within milliseconds of meeting someone
• we categorize people into stereotypes we already hold upon first meeting
• existing beliefs are influential at every stage of a relationship, and when it comes to friends and lovers, we may see what we want to see ad hold confident judgements that aren’t always right

Question 3

stereotypes

Answer 3

• supply us with preconceptions about what people are like
• judgements that are often incorrect but hard to avoid
• influence us automatically even when we are unaware of using them

Question 4

primacy effect

Answer 4

• the tendency for the first information we receive about others to carry special weight, along with our instant impressions and our stereotypes, in shaping our overall impressions of them
• our quick first judgments of others influence our interpretations of later info we encounter

Question 5

confirmation bias

Answer 5

• seeking information that will prove that we are right more often than looking for examples that will prove us wrong
• confirmatory biases elicit one-sided info about others that fits our preconceptions

Question 6

overconfident

Answer 6

thinking we are more accurate than we really are and making more mistakes than we realize

Question 7

positive illusions

Answer 7

• portraying our partners in the best possible light// judging our partners more positively than other people do
• these illusions are a mix of realistic knowledge about our partners and idealized perceptions of them

Question 8

attributions

Answer 8

• the explanations we generate for why things happen, particularly why a person did or did not do something
• identifies the causes of an event, emphasizes the impact of some influences, and minimizes the role of others
• influences/causes of the event can be:
  
  • internal or external (person’s personality vs. situational/circumstantial)
  • stable or unstable (our abilities vs. our moods)
  • controllable or uncontrollable (manageable vs. out of our control)

Question 9

6 influences of perception

Answer 9

1. idealization
2. explanations/attributions
3. memories
4. relationship beliefs
5. expectations
6. self-perceptions

Question 10

actor/observer effect

Answer 10

• we generate different explanations for our own behaviour than we do for similar things done by our partners
• people are aware of the external pressures on themselves but not on others
• more likely to make internal attributions for others

Question 11

self-serving biases

Answer 11

• when partners readily take credit for their successes but try to avoid the blame for their failures
• people feel responsible for the good things that happen to them, but prefer external excuses when things go wrong
• lead partners to believe that arguments are mostly their partner’s fault

Question 12

relationship enhancing attributions

Answer 12

• positive actions by the partner are judged to be intentional, habitual, and indicative of the partner’s fine character
• discounting transgressions and seeing them as accidental, unusual, and circumstantial

Question 13

distress maintaining attributions

Answer 13

• regard a partner’s negative actions as deliberate and routine and positive behaviour as unintended and accidental

Question 14

reconstructive memory

Answer 14

• the manner in which our memories are continually revised and rewritten as new information is obtained
• if you are happy in your relationship now, you are likely to not focus on past rough periods
• on the other hand, if you are currently unhappy, you are less likely to look at the past in a positive way

Question 15

marital paradigms

Answer 15

broad assumptions about whether, when, and under what circumstances we should marry that are accompanied by beliefs about what its like to be married

Question 16

romanticism

Answer 16

• the view that love should be the most important basis for choosing a mate
• people who are high in romanticism believe
  a) each of us has only one perfect “true” love
  b) true love will find a way to overcome any obstacle
  c) love is possible at first sight

Question 17

six relationship beliefs that are not true

Answer 17

1. disagreements are destructive
2. “mindreading” is essential
3. partners cannot change
4. sex should be perfect every time
5. men and women are different
6. great relationships just happen

Question 18

destiny beliefs

Answer 18

• assumptions that two people are either well suited for each other and destined to live happily ever after, or they’re not
• often inflexible views of intimate partnerships

Question 19

growth beliefs

Answer 19

• views that happy relationships are the result of hard work
• good relationships are believed to develop gradually as the partners work at surmounting challenges and overcoming obstacles, and a basic presumption that with enough effort, almost any relationship can succeed

Question 20

self-fulfilling prophecies

Answer 20

false predictions that become true because they lead people to behave in ways that make these expectations come true

Question 21

rejection sensitivity

Answer 21

the tendency to overreact and be defensive to even small snubs

Question 22

optimism

Answer 22

• anticipating that good things will happen

Question 23

self-concepts

Answer 23

• all of the beliefs and feelings we have about ourselves

- people seek feedback from others that will enhance their self-concepts and that sustains our existing self-concepts

Question 24

self-enhancement

Answer 24

the desire for positive, complimentary feedback

Question 25

self-verification

Answer 25

the desire for feedback that is consistent with one’s existing self-concept

Question 26

marriage shift

Answer 26

• occurs when Self-verification motives become more important than self-enhancement motives.
• people with negative self-concepts actually feel closer to spouses who don’t approve of them than those who do

Question 27

impression management

Answer 27

• trying to influence the impressions of us that others form
• four different strategies: ingratiation, self-promotion, intimidation, supplication

Question 28

ingratiation

Answer 28

• use ingratiation when we seek acceptance and liking from others
• doing favours, pay compliments, mention areas of agreement, and are generally charming to get others to like us
• common form of impression management with romantic partners

Question 29

self-promotion

Answer 29

• recounting our accomplishments or strategically arranging public demonstrations of our skills
• frequent strategy used in a workplac

Question 30

intimidation

Answer 30

• people portraying themselves as ruthless, dangerous, and menacing so that others will do what they want

Question 31

supplication

Answer 31

• when people sometimes present themselves as inept or infirm to avoid obligations and to elicit help and support from others

Question 32

self-monitoring

Answer 32

• people who readily adjust their behaviour to fit the varying norms of different situations
• people can be low self monitoring or high self monitoring

Question 33

high self monitoring

Answer 33

• alert to social cues that suggest what they should do and they are able to tailor their behaviour to fit in
• high self monitors tend to have more friends than low self monitors

Question 34

low self monitoring

Answer 34

• stays consistent in how they present themselves no matter the situation
• tend not to have lots of friends, but the ones they do are deep friendships

Question 35

implicit attitudes

Answer 35

• unintentional and automatic judgements that are evident when our partners come to mind
• ex. someone asks “how is your bf doing?” and you automatically smile before you answer

Question 36

transference

Answer 36

• unconsciously bring past experiences into our reactions with current partners
• ex. having a bad dream about your partner and then waking up still mad at them

Question 37

managing how others view us

Answer 37

-people usually go to less trouble to maintain favourable images for our intimate partners that we do for others –> worry less about how we’re coming across and try less hard to appear likable

Question 38

Factors that lead to how well we know our partners

Answer 38

1. knowledge –> intimate partners know a lot about each other, but we generally don’t know our partners as well as we think we do
2. motivation–> how motivated we are to get to know them
3. partner legibility –> how obvious and observable are our partner’s behaviour
4. perceiver ability –> how well we can judge someone –> emotional intelligence
5. threatening perceptions –> purposeful inaccurate perceptions of partner to avoid doubts about relationship
6. perceiver influence –> people continually shape each other’s behaviour

Question 39

emotional intelligence

Answer 39

a set of abilities that describes a person’s talents in perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions
- people with high EI can read others’ feelings sensitively