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