Chapter 4: Social Cognition Flashcards
social cognition
all the processes of perception, interpretation, belief, and memory with which we evaluate and understand ourselves and other people
forming first impressions
- Our first impressions persist even when they’re erroneous
- It only takes us 33 milliseconds to form judgments of a stranger’s attractiveness, trustworthiness, and status
- These impressions are consistent with the ones we hold after a minute of careful inspection of the person’s face
what influences our first impressions?
- the primacy effect
- the fact that everyone fits some category of people about whom we already hold stereotyped first impressions
primacy effect
a 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 impression of them
example of the primacy effect
People equipped with different expectations about the social class of a 4th-grade girl drew very different conclusions about her performance on an achievement although they all witnessed the same performance. Those who thought they were watching a rich kid judged her to be performing at a level that was an entire grade better than those who thought they were watching a kid from a more modest background
confirmation bias
people seek information that will prove them right more often than they look for examples that would prove them wrong
overconfidence
people think they’re more accurate than they are and make more mistakes than they realize
what phases of relationships do existing beliefs affect?
all phases of relationships
who is best at predicting how long relationships will last?
- Parents of university students are better at forecasting the future of their student’s relationships than the student’s roommates, or the student themselves, even though they are less confident in their predictions
- The most accurate predictions of the future of heterosexual relationships come from the friends of the woman involved
indirect influences on first impressions
various influences, some of which have nothing to do with the person who’s being judged
are environmental cues in first impressions conscious?
no, they’re unconscious
positive illusions
- Illusions that portray one’s partner in the best possible light
- They don’t ignore a partner’s faults but minimize them
are positive illusions beneficial?
Positive illusions can be beneficial if we’re aware of all the facts but merely interpret them in a kind, benevolent fashion
positive illusions overtime
Over time, we revise our opinions of what we want in a partner so that our standards fit our current partners
attributions
the explanations we generate for why things happen
types of attributions
Attributions can be internal or external, stable or unstable, and controllable or uncontrollable
Actor/observer effects
- Partners generate different explanations for their behaviour than they do for similar things they see their partners do
- People acknowledge external pressures when they explain their actions, but make internal attributions when other people behave the same way
self-serving biases
people readily take credit for their successes but try to avoid the blame for their failures
do self-serving biases exist in loving relationships?
yes
Relationship enhancing attribution
regard a partner’s positive actions as internal and negative actions as external
Distress-maintaining attributions
regard a partner’s negative actions as internal and positive actions as external
attachment style and attributions
People with secure attachment styles tend to employ relationship-enhancing attributions and insecure people are more pessimistic
memory and relationships
- Memory is reconstructive: it is continually revised and rewritten as new information is obtained
- Reconstructive memory influences our relationships
- Partners’ current feelings about each other influence what they remember about their shared past
- By remembering recent improvements in their relationship, partners remain happier than they might otherwise
marital paradigms
broad assumptions about whether, when, and under what circumstances we should marry that are accompanied by beliefs about what it’s like to be married
destiny beliefs
- assume that two people are well-suited for each other and destined to live happily ever after, or they’re not
- Inflexible view of intimate partnerships
- 56% of Americans have these beliefs
growth beliefs
assume that good relationships develop gradually as the partners work at surmounting challenges and overcoming obstacles
beliefs and relationship commitment
People who hold growth beliefs remain more committed to the relationship during arguments
attachment style and judgments in relationships
People with secure attachment styles are more generous, optimistic, and kind in their judgments of others than secure people are
Self-fulfilling prophecies
false predictions that become true because they lead people to behave in ways that make the erroneous expectations come true
rejection sensitivity
people who tend to anxiously perceive snubs from people when none are intended
optimism
the tendency to expect good things to happen
steps of a self-fulfilling prophecy
- perceiver forms an expectancy about the target
- perceiver acts
- target interprets the perceiver’s behaviour
- target responds
- perceive interprets the target’s response
self-concepts
encompasses all of the beliefs and feelings we have about ourselves
impact of self-concept on relationships
Our self-concepts help direct our choices of intimate partners
Two functions of our self-concepts during social interactions
self-enhancement & self-verification
self-enhancement
the desire for positive, complimentary feedback
self-verification
the desire for feedback that is consistent with one’s existing self-concept
do people with poor self-concepts experience self-enhancement?
- People with poor self-concepts like praise and compliments, but once they get the chance to think about them, they don’t believe or trust such feedback
- They prefer people who dislike them because it’s consistent with their self-concept
marriage shift
people initially seek self-enhancement in relationships, but once relationships become more serious (ex. marriage), they seek self-verification
narcissism in relationships
Narcissism can be attractive at first, but detrimental to a relationship in the long run
implicit attitudes
unintentional and automatic associations in our judgments that are evident when our partners come to mind
impact of implicit attitudes
- Implicit attitudes are typically uncorrelated with conscious evaluations of relationships
- Implicit attitudes predict the future of a marriage better than the spouses consciously can
transference
a process by which old feelings are transferred to new partners, influencing our behaviour and implicit attitudes toward them when new partners subtly remind us of partners from our past
impression management
- Trying to influence the impressions of us that others form
- Anything we do in the presence of others must be strategically regulated in the service of impression management
- Impression management has a pervasive influence on social life
4 strategies of impression management
- ingratiation
- self-promotion
- intimidation
- supplication
ingratiation
being charming to get others to like you
self-promotion
strategically arranging public demonstrations of one’s skills
intimidation
people portray themselves as menacing so that others will do their bidding
supplication
people present themselves as inept or infirm to avoid obligations and elicit help and support from others
self-monitoring
those who readily adjust their behaviour to fit the varying norms of different situations
impact of self-monitoring on relationships
- People high in self-monitoring enjoy interactions of higher intimacy at first and surround themselves with activity specialists (partners who are great companions for some particular pleasure)
- However, those high in self-monitoring tend to have shorter, less committed relationships
- We usually go to less trouble to maintain favourable images for our intimate partners than we do for others, especially if we have been with them for longer
knowledge & relationships
The more we know about our partners, the more accurate our judgments of them become
motivation & relationships
We know people better when we are motivated to
partner legibility & relationships
The more evident a trait is, the more accurately it will be perceived
perceiver ability & relationships
People who have good social skills tend to be adept at judging others, often because they’re high in emotional intelligence
emotional intelligence
a set of abilities that describe a person’s talent in perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions
can people get more emotionally intelligent?
yes, training can help people improve their abilities to understand their partners
how do other people see us?
- Sometimes other people know more about us than we do because they have a different point of view and are more objective
- Others generally see us as less anxious, more assertive, and more conscientious than we judge ourselves to be
threatening perceptions & relationships
Intimate partners are motivated to be inaccurate in their perceptions of their relationship when accurate perceptions would be worrisome
perceiver influence & accuracy over time
Perceptions that are initially inaccurate may become more correct as we induce our partners to become the people we want them to be
