Definitions Flashcards
Social perception
The study of how we form impressions of other people and make inferences about them
Nonverbal communication
The way in which people communicate intentionally or unintentionally without words nonverbal cues include facial expressions tone of voice jesters body position and movement to use a touch and Eye gaze
Encode
To express or emit nonverbal behaviour such as smiling or patting someone on the back
Decode
Do you interpret the meaning of the nonverbal behaviour other people express such as deciding that a pat on the back was an expression of consideration and not kindness
Affect blend
A facial expression in which one part of the face registers one emotion well another part of the face for registers a different emotion
Display rules
Culturally determined rules about which emotional expressions are appropriate to show
Emblems
Nonverbal gestures that have well understood definitions within a given culture they usually have direct verbal translation such as the OK sign
Implicit personality theory
A type of schema people used to group various kinds of personality traits together for example many people believe that if someone is kind she is generous as well
Attribution theory
A description of the way in which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behaviour
Internal attribution
The inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about him or her such as his or her attitude and character or personality
External attribution
The inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation they are in, the assumption is that most people would respond the same way in that situation
Consensus information
Information about the extent to which other people behave the same way as the actor does towards the same stimulus
Distinctiveness information
Information about the extent to which one particular actor behaves in the same way to different stimuli
Consistency information
Information about the extent to which the behaviour between one actor and one stimulus is the same across time and circumstance
Correspondence bias
The tendency to infer that people’s behaviour corresponds to or matches their disposition (personality)
Perceptual Salience
Information that is the focus of peoples attention people tend to overestimate the causal role of perceptually salient information
Two-step process of attribution
Analyzing another person’s behaviour first by making an automatic internal attribution and only then thinking about possible situational reasons for the behaviour after which one may adjust the original internal attribution
Actor or observer difference
The tendency to see other people’s behaviour as dispositionaly caused while focussing more on the role of situational factors when explaining ones own behaviour
Self-serving attributions
Explanations for one success that credit internal dispositional factors and explanations for ones failures that blame external situational factors
Defensive attributions
Explanations for behaviour that avoid feelings of honour ability and morality
Believe in a just world
A form of defence of attribution where in people assume that bad things happen to bad people and that good things happen to good people
Self-concept
The contents of the self that is our knowledge about who we are
Self awareness
The act of thinking about ourselves
Self schemas
An organized body of knowledge about the self (example: attitudes, preference, traits) that influence what people notice, think about, and remember about themselves
Self reference effect
The tendency for people to remember information better if they related to themselves
Independent view of the self
Defining one’s self in terms of one’s own internal thoughts feelings and actions and not in terms of the thoughts feelings and actions of other people
Interdependent of the self
Defining oneself in terms of one’s relationship to other people recognizing that one’s behaviour is often determined by the thoughts feelings and actions of others
Introspection
The process whereby people look in word and examine their own thoughts feelings and motives
Self-awareness theory
The idea that when people focussed attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare the behaviour with their internal standards and values
Causal theories
Theories about the cause of one’s own feelings and behaviours typically we learned such theories from our culture example: absence makes the heart grow fonder
Self perception theory
The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous we infer these states by observing our behaviour in this situation in which it occurs
Intrinsic motivation
The desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting not because of external rewards or pressure
Extrinsic motivation
The desire to engage in an activity because of external rewards or pressures not because we enjoy the task or find it interesting
Over justification affect
The case whereby people view your behaviours as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons making them under estimate the extent to which their behaviour was caused by intrinsic reasons
Task contingent rewards
Rewards that are given for performing a task regardless of how well the task is done
Performance contingent rewards
Rewards that are based on how well they perform a task
Looking glass self
The idea that we see ourselves through the eyes of other people and incorporate their views into our self-concept
Social comparison theory theory
The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves with other people
Downward social comparison
The process whereby we compare selves with people who are worse than we are in a particular trait or ability
Upward social comparison
The process whereby we compare selves with people who are better than we are in a particular trait or ability
Self discrepancy theory
The theory that we become distressed when our sense of who we are actual song is this discrepant from our personal standards or desired self conceptions
Self enhancement
And realistically positive view of One self
Self verification theory
Siri suggesting that people have a need to seek confirmation of their self-concept whether the self-concept is positive or negative in some circumstances this tendency in conflict with the desire to uphold a favourable view of oneself
