Social Cognitions Flashcards
Social cognitions
processes of perception, interpretation, beliefs, memories we use to evaluate and understand ourselves and others
Primacy effect:
tendency for the first information we receive about others to carry special weight
Conformation Bias
seeking information to confirm our current beliefs
Overconfidence
thinking that we’re more accurate than we really are and making more mistakes than we realize
Idealization:
emphaising positive and minimizing negatives
positive illusions:
portray their partners in the best possible light
How can positive illusions be beneficial
Judge partners in positive ways and commit to the relationship
attributions:
explanations we create for something, influencing some impacts and minimizing others
Name the different kinds of attributions
- Internal (personality or ability) or external (enviornment or context)
- Stable (abilities) or unstable (mood)
- Controllable (manage them) or uncontrollable (nothing we can do)
Actor/observer effects:
generate different explanations for their own behavior than they do for the similar things they see their partners do; Acknowledging external impact for ourselves but not for others; partners make a conscious effort to try to understand the other’s point of view, the actor/observer discrepancy gets smaller
Self-serving biases:
take credit for our successes (internal), failures are external ; give ourselves credit for—our own good intentions, even when we fail to follow through on them, but we judge other people only by what they do, not what they may have intended to do
Relationship enhancing attributions:
satisfied partners magnify their partner’s kindnesses and minimize their missteps - keeps partners happy
Distress-maintaining attributions:
regard a partner’s negative actions as deliberate and routine and positive behavior as unintended and accidental
Impact of memories and reconstructive memory:
current perceptions influenced by the past; reconstructive memory: memories are altered as we receive new information
what are the dysfunctional relationship beliefs (6)
disagreements are destructive, mindreading is essential, partners cannot change, sex should be perfect, individual differences, great relationships just happen
Destiny beliefs:
Very unrealistic and inflexible: people are either destined to live happily ever after or not
Growth beliefs:
good relationships are developed gradually, if there is enough effort then relationships can succeed
Marital paradigm:
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
Self fulfilling prophecies:
fasle predictions that become true because they lead people to behave in a way that makes these false predictions become a reality
How does rejection sensitivity impact relationships
anxiously perceive snubs from others when none are intended - often overreact
Self-concept and self-esteem
Self-concept: beliefs about ourself
Self-esteem: evaluation of yourself
Self-enhancement
feedback that enhances our self concepts
Self verification:
When others verify our own self-concepts; more happy if others evaluations match out own self concept
What relationships value self enhancement
Short term partners seek self-enhancement from others
Marriage shift:
self verification becomes more important, they want feedback that supports their self concepts
implicit attitudes:
unintentional and automatic judgements that are evident when our partners come to mind. Tells us about how we feel about our partners that is not conscious
Transference:
unconsciously bring past experience into our reactions with current partners
four ways we try to manage the impressions other people have of us
- Self promotion 2. ingratiation 3. intimidation 4. supplication
Self-monitoring
adjusting behaviour to match the situation
Low self monitoring:
likely to be the same through situations, less attentive to social norms; has less friends but they are better quality
High self-monitoring:
more likely to adjust behaviour; has more friends but less deep connections
Accuracy of perceptions: Knowledge
more information the more accurate our judgements of them become
Things that impact our knowledge of our partners:
- Motivation to get to know someone
- Readability - some things are easier to figure out
- Ability to judge/asses someone else - can we pick up social cues
- People continually shape each others behaviour - perceptions may become more accurate as people change
- Partner legibility: some people are harder to judge
- Perceiver ability
What is perceiver ability:
good social skills are better at judging others; emotional intelligence a set of abilities that describes a person’s talents in perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions
Threatening/purposefully inaccurate perceptions:
partners typically understand each other much better than they understand mere acquaintances, but they may not want to on those occasions when a partner’s feelings or behavior is distressing or ominous
