Perceiving Others Flashcards
What is the English folk theory of personality described in “Monday’s Child”?
A poem associating personality traits with days of the week:
Monday: Fair of face
Tuesday: Full of grace
Wednesday: Full of woe
Thursday: Has far to go
Friday: Loving and giving
Saturday: Works hard for a living
Sunday: Bonny, lithe, good, and gay.
What does the Ashanti folk theory say about personality?
It links personality traits to the day of birth, with different types of “kra” (soul) entering the body on different days, producing dispositions but not destiny.
What traits are associated with boys born on Monday and Wednesday in the Ashanti theory?
Monday’s boy (kwadwo): Quiet, retiring, peaceful.
Wednesday’s boy (kwaku): Quick-tempered, aggressive, troublemaker
What was Gustav Jahoda’s (1954) study on the Ashanti theory?
He examined the relationship between day of birth (kradin), delinquency, and type of offense using records of schoolboys and delinquents, finding statistical associations.
What is person perception?
The process of forming impressions of others through social perception, judgment, and cognition, influenced by physical appearance, behavior, and situational factors.
What did Gustav Ichheiser emphasize about social perception?
He highlighted common misinterpretations in person perception, such as overestimating personality unity and underestimating situational factors.
What are primacy effects in impression formation?
Early information about a person has a stronger impact on impressions than later information, as demonstrated by Asch’s (1946) experiments.
What are central traits according to Solomon Asch (1946)?
Traits like “warm” or “cold” that strongly influence overall impressions of a person.
What are the fundamental dimensions of social judgment identified by Fiske, Cuddy, & Glick (2007)?
Warmth and competence.
What is attribution theory?
A theory about how people make causal explanations for behavior, distinguishing between dispositional (personality-based) and situational (context-based) attributions.
What is the Fundamental Attribution Error?
The tendency to underestimate situational factors and overestimate dispositional factors when explaining others’ behavior (Ross, 1977).
How does cognitive load affect attribution?
Under cognitive load, people are more likely to make dispositional inferences because situational corrections require effort and attention.
What is the Thomas Theorem?
“If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas & Thomas, 1928).
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
When an initially false belief about a person leads to behavior that makes the belief come true.
What was the Pygmalion in the Classroom study?
Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) found that labeling some students as “growth spurters” led to significant IQ gains due to teacher expectations.
What is behavioral confirmation?
When people’s behavior aligns with others’ expectations, reinforcing the initial perception, e.g., perceived traits like extraversion affecting social interaction.
What are common types of misinterpretation in social perception, according to Ichheiser?
- Overestimating personality unity.
- Misinterpreting success and failure.
- Relying on stereotypes.
- Underestimating situational factors.
What is correspondent inference theory?
A theory on when people make dispositional attributions, focusing on factors like choice, social desirability, and roles (Jones & Davis, 1965).
What is correspondence bias?
The tendency to attribute others’ behavior to their dispositions even when situational explanations are sufficient (Gilbert & Malone, 1995).
How do attributions differ across cultures?
Western cultures: More dispositional attributions.
Eastern cultures: More situational attributions, due to holistic thinking and group-agency beliefs.
How does culture shape person perception and behavior?
Culture influences automatic inferences, correction for biases, and beliefs about agency, affecting how people perceive and interact socially.
What was the “Pygmalion in the Classroom” study by Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968)?
It involved telling teachers that some students were “growth spurters” based on a fake test, leading to significant IQ gains in these randomly assigned students due to teacher expectations.
In the Pygmalion study, which group of students showed the strongest effects?
The youngest age groups.
How were attributions manipulated in the behavioral confirmation noise weapon study?
Disposition attribution: Behavior was attributed to personal characteristics.
Situation attribution: Behavior was attributed to the way the opponent treated them.
What was the second reaction time task in the behavioral confirmation study?
Naive perceivers interacted with targets, and the target’s use of the noise weapon and the perceivers’ impressions were recorded.
What are examples of behavioral confirmation in other dimensions?
Perceived extraversion: Influenced social interaction.
Perceived gender: Affected task choices.
Perceived age: Determined choice of games.
Perceived basketball ability: Affected the number of shots taken
Under what conditions do behavioral confirmation effects persist?
When behavior is attributed to dispositions.
When targets adjust their self-concept based on the perception.
What are some key findings about person perception?
- Person perception is often inaccurate or biased.
- Impressions are influenced by the order of information.
- Impressions are strongly affected by “central traits.”
According to Ichheiser, why are attributions often inaccurate?
Attributions are oversimplified, focusing on dispositional inferences and neglecting situational complexity unless additional cognitive resources are available.
How can false perceptions lead to self-fulfilling prophecies?
Initially incorrect beliefs about others can influence their behavior, causing them to act in ways that confirm the original belief.
