Perception of the other Flashcards
First Impressions…
Based on automatic, unconscious processes. Refering to the initial judgments and opinions that people form about someone based on their first encounter, often influenced by factors such as appearance, demeanor, and behavior.
People form first impressions to quickly identify if someone is dangerous.
When are first impression form?
There is a strong correlation between the impression formed in the first 1/10 of a second when seeing a person and when we have a conversation lasting more than 30 minutes with them.
What are some exmaples of non verbal behaviours
Eye-Contact, Distance, Gestures, Facial Expression, Posture, Colours
What do we rely on to judge people?
Typically, we will rely much more on non-verbal behaviors (vs. verbal counts) in order to judge a person.
But interpreting non-verbal behaviors is not easy
What are non-verbal behaviours?
1- Cover several categories of behavior
2- Are often expressed AND interpreted unconsciously, in a non-voluntary way
3- Are very difficult to perfectly imitate
4- Represents the majority of information acquired in social interactions
5- First impressions are mostly based on non-verbal language, tend to be accurate and are VERY difficult to change
Central trait theory…
Suggests that people have specific traits that play a big role in who they are. These traits, called central traits, are like the key features of a person’s personality that stand out the most and have a big impact on how others see and understand them.
Certain personality traits are considered more or less positive in a fairly constant manner among all individuals.
Certain traits are more important when judging others.
Attributions…
Attribution theory believes that
people attempt to understand events
and actions by attributing intentions,
beliefs, and feelings to the events.It
also holds that we tend to place
causation into two categories: internal (dispositional) factors and external (situational) factors.
Blame the person = INTERNAL attribution
Blame the situation = EXTERNAL attribution
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Example:
Actor-Observer Bias
The actor-observer bias is the tendency for people to attribute situational factors
for their own behavior, but more trait-based attributions for others.
Self-Serving Attribution
People have a basic psychological need to view themselves in a positive light. In fact, being negative towards oneself is a depressive symptom and can be psychologically unhealthy.
Consensus
The more people do the same thing, the less we blame
Consistancy
The less frequent the behaviors, the less we blame
Distinction
The more specific the situation is, the less we blame
Fondamental Attibution of Error…
it’s when we tend to assume that someone’s actions are because of who they are as a person, rather than considering the circumstances they might be in.
When it’s us:
Failures are not our fault The successes are thanks to us
When it’s others: Failures are their fault Their successes are luck based (or based on an external factor)
When it’s others: Failures are their fault Their successes are luck based (or based on an external factor)
1- When we think about another person, they are the center of our attention so we will tend to believe that they are the center of explanations for behaviors. We don’t focus on ourselves in the same way, we see the environment around us.
2- Personal attributions are easy to make, spontaneous. Why make more effort?
3- We first need to know what type of person we are dealing with before we can make a situational attribution.
4- We want to protect our self-esteem
