chapter 3: perceiving individuals Flashcards
mental representations
a body of knowledge that an individual has stored in memory
o Our beliefs about members of particular occupations, nationalities, ethnic groups
how does perception of others begin
visible cues (physical appearance, nonverbal communication, environments, behaviour)
what’s beautiful is good
expect highly attractive people to be more interesting, warm, out-going, socially skilled
o Transcends specific cultures – people from different cultures generally agree about who’s physically attractive and about the traits attractiveness conveys
attraction studies
o People are more likely to imitate the behaviour of an attractive stranger seen in a photograph, than a less attractive one
o Elementary school teachers rate more physically attractive children as having more IQ and academic potential
o More attractive defendants have lower bail set and receive lower prison sentences
o College students prefer more attractive political candidates
- paired college men and women for dates + rated each person’s attractiveness, social skills, grades, IQ tests, personalities - Physical attractiveness is the most important for date satisfaction
photography experiment
tendency to photograph themselves from above, men from below – might be related to dominance Women – tendency to photograph themselves from above, men from below – might be related to dominance
baby faced features
large round eyes, high eyebrows, small chin
baby faced features experiment
in both US and Korea – baby-faced adult males were viewed as more naïve, honest, kind, warm
o More likely to be chosen as dates by people who like to dominate others, less likely to be recommended for jobs that require mature characteristics (competence, leadership ability)
candidates running for office experiment
which one appeared more competent?
o Candidates chosen by the participants were actually more likely to win elections
o Candidates who looked more threatening were less likely to win
appearance - salary
newly hired professional men taller than 190cm received starting salaries 10% higher
o Workers with below-average looks earned as much as 10% less than average-looking counterparts, those with above-average looks earned 5% more than average
CEOs experiment
students had to rate the traits of CEOs of some US corporations based on photos
o Judgement of their “power-related” traits (competence, maturity) – predicted actual profits
o Maybe their facial features gave the CEOs an advantage in negotiations
o Recent works – direction of causality is reversed – more competent CEOs are hired by companies that were more profitable
nonverbal communication
influences whether we like people, how we think they’re feeling and what we think they’re like
o We like people who express their feelings nonverbally
body language in individualist cultures
people like those who orient their bodies towards them (facing them directly, leaning towards them, nodding while they’re speaking) + those who look at them with dilated pupils (even if they don’t notice)
are emotions universal
- Across cultures (Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Turkey, US) – people express sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust – similar bodily postures and facial expressions
o Universal language, but other findings say that interpretations of emotional expressions often differ between cultures (sadness, surprise, disgust)
nonverbal communication studies
o Ex: students watch 3 10-second silent videos of teachers giving lectures, asked to rate them on warmth, honesty, confidence, enthusiasm
o Agreed with how actual students rated the teacher at the end of the semester
o Ex: video of an interaction between 2 co-workers they didn’t know – able to guess who had a higher status
o Ex: students listened to the recorded voice of a person reading text and then tried to judge which photo showed that person – accurate 75% of the time
lying studies
- Perceivers are correct in classifying statements as lies or truths 54% of the time
o Cues they look out for – gaze aversion, fidgeting – actually aren’t good predictors
o Actual cue: quivering or high-pitched tone of voice
o Some individual difference factors are associated with these cues: African-Americans tend to show more gaze aversion
cheating study
gave students a test under conditions that tempted them to cheat by working together – hot topic
o Obtained students’ self-reports of their level of extraversion
o Showed pictures of those students and asked others to rate their intelligence, extraversion, trustworthiness
o Intelligence as judged was related to students’ actual performance + ratings of extraversion were correlated with self-reports
o The raters agreed on trustworthiness, but unrelated to if the students have cheating on the test
o Activity in the amygdala – relates to judgements of trustworthiness
polygraph
measures signs of psychological arousal (rapid breathing, increased heart rate, sweating) – correctly detects 75% of guilty suspects, declared guilty 37% of the innocent ones
o New methods – fMRI
mere exposure
exposure to a stimulus without any external reward which created familiarity with the stimulus and generally makes people feel more positively about it
mere exposure experiment
- Ex: 4 women attended a varying number of large college lectures, didn’t interact with anyone
o Students looked at picutres and answered about their impressions
o The students thought the women they had seen more often were more interesting, warm and intelligent + would rather spend time with them
rating rooms experiment
looked at student dorms, had to rate the person – similar to the way the occupants of the rooms rated themselves
o The same levels of accuracy – study that looked at single-person offices or cubicles in a bank, real estate agency and other business
salience
the ability of a cue to attract attention in its context
automatic
refers to processes that operate spontaneously (without the perceiver’s deliberate intent) and often efficiently and without awareness
association
a link between two or more mental representations
o Can arise from similarity in meanings between two mental representations, but even unrelated ideas can become associated if they’re repeatedly thought about together
accessibility
the ease and speed with which information comes to mind and is used
o The more accessible the knowledge, the more likely it is to come to mind automatically, without our consciously trying to retrieve it, and the more likely it is to guide our interpretation of cues
English language bias
metaphors of physical weight used to describe concepts that are serious or important
o People asked to judge a job candidate whose resume was placed in a heavy or light cupboard – those holding the heavier one rated him as more serious about the job
lecturer experiment
before a lecture, students given background information: either “a very warm person, industrious, critical, practical, determined” or “a rather cold person, industrious, critical, practical, determined”
o People who were told he’s warm – much better rating
the effect of expectations on social perception experiment
o Supports of opposing candidates in debates expect their candidates to show leadership potential and win – each group reports just that
o The same expression looked grief-stricken when told it’s a funeral and as a tearful laughter when told it’s a comedy show
Donald story
students told to memorize words – either positive or negative
o Story about Donald – those who read positive had “adventurous” as accessible and rated his behaviour positively + the opposite for the other group
priming
the activation of a mental representation to increase its accessibility and thus the likelihood that it will be used
o Can be long lasting (24 hours)
subliminal
presentation of stimuli in such a way (usually with a very brief duration) that perceivers aren’t consciously aware of them
- The frequent use of mental representations – makes it chronically accessible
o People repeatedly use the same concepts in interpreting others’ behaviours
TV commercials with women and sex
TV commercials with women as sex objects and not
o Asked to interview a female student – sat closer to the interviewee and asked her more personal and inappropriate questions, recalled more about her physical appearance and less about what she said, rated her as more friendly and less competent
corresponding inference
the process of characterising someone as having a personality trait that corresponds to their observed behaviour
when’s corresponding inference justified
o The individual freely chooses to perform the behaviour
o The behaviour has unique effects that other behaviours don’t
The fewer effects that a behaviour shares with other possible choices, the better
o The behaviour is unexpected
Castro study
people read an essay which was pro or against Castro – some were told that people chose freely the topic and some told that they didn’t
o Participants assumed that their actual beliefs mirrored the position of the feedback – unjustified correspondent inference
o Maybe they assumed they had to draw conclusions about the person rather than the situation – lesser effect when people pay specific attention to the situation
limiting factors
salient context, cross-cultural differences
correspondence bias
the tendency to infer an actor’s personal characteristics from observed behaviours, even when the inference is unjustified because other possible causes of behaviour exist
how are individuals seen in collectivistic and individualistic cultures
- Individualist cultures – individuals seen as independent and autonomous, responsible for their own thoughts, feelings, actions
o Assume that people’s inner dispositions cause their behaviour – correspondence bias - Collectivist cultures – individuals are interdependent with their groups and social contexts
o Consider a wider range of causal alternatives – less correspondence bias
far away location experiment
a video of individuals having a conversation – some told that it’s a far-away location, some told that it’s near
o Stronger correspondent inferences when believed that it took place far away
o Greater perceived distance from a behaviour – focus on the causes of the behaviour or event rather than on their effect
manager clerk experiment
people randomly selected as managers or clerks
o All believed that managers were assertive and decisive with real leadership potential + will be more successful
superficial processing
relying on accessible information to make inferences or judgements, while expending little effort in processing
systematic processing
giving thorough, effortful consideration to a wide range of information relevant to a judgement
what does processing systematically require
o Motivation – reason to form a more complex impression
o The ability to process thoroughly – adequate time to think, freedom from distractions
causal attribution
a judgement about the cause of a behaviour or other event – essential for our perception of other people
when are causal attributions more likely to be made
whatever possible cause is salient and draws our attention
o Bright colours, moving images, loud voices – become probable causes of behaviour
different viewing positions experiments
6 students watched a two-person conversation from different viewing positions
o Attributed a greater causal role to the person they were directly watching – gave that person higher ratings for dominating the conversation and dictating its tone and outcomes
o Implications: jurors watching a tape of a suspect while being interrogated by the police – when it’s focused on the subject, might believe that the confession was given voluntarily
pilot carpet experiment
students exposed to words like aviator or rug
o Then had to explain hypothetical events such as “the pilot liked the carpet” – when primed with aviator attributed the behaviour to the actor and when primed with rug attributed it to the rug
how can behavior be explained
the actor (distinctiveness – same actor, other objects), the target of the behaviour (consensus – other actors, same object) or the particular situation (consistency – same actor, different time)
how do Americans vs Chinese explain a murder
o Americans – “he’s a psycho” + in another ex more likely to blame a pharmaceutical error on the person who filled the prescription rather than the pharmacy, for Chinese opposite
o Chinese – social relationships between the murderer, his victim and the larger societal construct
discounting
reducing a belief in one potential cause of behaviour because there is another viable cause
steps of causal inference
interpreting the behaviour, characterizing the person, using causal reasoning to correct the impression
discounting experiment
students watched a silent, videotaped interview of a nervous women
o One group told she was talking about her most embarrassing movement and the other about her favourite vacation
o Those who knew the reasoning behind her nervousness – rated her as less nervous
o Additionally – some asked to memorize the topics (distracting activity, insufficient cognitive resources) – rated her as an anxious type
o When we’re unable to process – we stick to our first impressions
what happened when people were asked to recall behaviors of a person they had read about
often recalled a number of behaviours reflecting the same trait in a sequence, followed by behaviours linked to a different trait
negativity bias
- People tend to give negative information more weight than positive information – negative information is generally surprising and unexpected (more people are polite than rude) – negative information seems more extreme
when does the negativity bias form
early in life
schizophrenia experiment
students told that they will meet a man who has been hospitalized for schizophrenia, some told they will work with him (spent more time reading about his personality)
manager’s friend and enemy
read about a manager who was considering two candidates, asked a colleague who praised one
o Some told that he praised his friend and some told he praised his enemy
o When he recommended his enemy – rated the recommended person more favourably, the opposite when it’s his friend
trivia knowledge experiment
students evaluated the trivia knowledge of a man whom they expected to be either their competitor or partner
o Rated higher when partner – we want him to be good
rating our performance experiment
people interacted with a person whom they believed either would or wouldn’t be evaluating their performance for a possible prize
o When evaluating – rated as more competent
using impressions
- Decisions based on a single accessible or salient characteristic require minimal effort and thought – generally rely on past judgements of an individual rather than underlying evidence that led to those judgements in the first place
o Even if those past circumstances could create bias - When people integrate multiple items of information don’t evaluate each attribute separately – attempt to fit the information together into a meaningful whole
o One item might subtly change the meaning of others (intelligent + warm vs cold)
quiz show experiment
watched two people on a quiz show – one did better than worse, the other one did worse than better
o People rate the one who started strongly as better
primacy effect
a pattern in which early-encountered information has a greater impact than subsequent information (principle of cognitive conservatism)
primacy effect experiment
a group of strangers met together over a 7 week period
o Wrote descriptions of one another – the same characteristics would repeat even those first-impressions were based on little information
perseverance bias
the tendency for information to have a persisting effect on our judgements even after it has been discredited
perseverance bias experiment
students observed others performing a decision-making task
o Some told that the decision maker did well or not so well, then revealed that it was randomly determined
o Still effects of the now-discredited feedback – difficult to undo their effects
o The most effective way to reduce perseverance bias – explicitly consider the opposite possibility
confirmation bias
people usually actively and selectively look for information to confirm their previous impression
jurors experiment
participants as jurors had to make a verdict
o When no witness 18% voted for conviction, when eye witness 72%, when blind witness 68%
self-fulfilling prophecy
the process by which one person’s expectations about another become a reality by eliciting behaviours that confirm those expectations
o People fail to recognize that they influence others
liberal button experiment
the interviewer had to push a liberal or conservative button – controlled the types of answered they received from the other person
o Still rated them according to their answers
limits of the self-fulfilling prophecy
o When the person being perceived has strong views about themselves – the effects become weaker
Ex: paired students and had them interview each other – despite being given a false expectation about the target’s personality, perceivers usually changed their original impression to match the target’s own view of her personality
Self-fulfilling prophecy – only when the target was uncertain about her traits
o Can be foiled when targets are aware of the perceivers’ expectations – special effort to prove otherwise
o Weaker when the targets are more concerned about conveying an accurate impression than making the interaction go smoothly and pleasantly
what two motives does inconsistent information challenge
o Sense of mastery and understanding is threatened by the unexpected information
o Ability to maintain a relationship or social interaction may be thrown into doubt
effects of contradictory information on cognitive processes
o People spend more time thinking about such behaviours
o People try to explain unexpected behaviours
o Improved ability to recall inconsistent behaviours
cheerleader experiment
read the life history of a young woman who was a cheerleader and failed to get into uni, but got a PHD and became a professor of history
o People said that she changed greatly – when looking for a change in an individual – able to perceive it
collectivists about change
more likely to view people’s behaviour as changing with circumstances and social contexts
o Readiness to perceive change much higher
forbidden button experiment
artificial setting with the spacebar (forbidden button)
o Manipulated two things – eye witness who has seen you press the button (suggestiveness of the interrogation), uncertainty (speeding up the task – more difficult, less certain what you did)
o If both present –
o In both groups people confessed, less when no witness and slow (35%) more when witness and fast (100%)
% go down for convinced of own guilt or elaborates on own guilt
when are false confessions more likely to be elicited
in young people, drug users, people with criminal records and without legal assistance, people questioned by manipulative interrogators
how many people believed they were accurate in detecting if the suspect is guilty
77%
why do people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
o Need for self-punishment, a desire to protect the real perpetrator, or because they find it difficult to distinguish fantasy from reality
o Internalized confessions – vulnerable people come to believe they actually committed a crime because of the pressures during an interrogation – doubt their own memory
