Social Perception Flashcards
social perception
study of how we form impressions of other people and make inferences about them
nonverbal communication
way in which people communicate (intentionally or unintentionally), without words
nonverbal cues
- body position/movement
- eye gaze
- facial expression
- gestures
- tones of voice
- touch
nonverbal communication: encode
to express or emit nonverbal communication
- smiling
- patting someone on the shoulder
nonverbla communication: decode
to interpret meaning of the nonveral communication others express
- deciding that a pat on the back is an expression of condescension and not kindness
nonverbal communication: faces
- facial expressions = most significant channel of nonverbal communication
- Charles Darwin believed that primary emotions conveyed by face = universal
- This is somewhat confirmed by Ekman
Ekman’s study
- determined universality of at least 6 facial expressions
- context and culture influence how facial expression = interpreted
Ekman’s study: the 6 universal facial expressions
- anger
- sadness
- surprise
- fear
- disgust
- happiness
- (contempt)
affect blends
- 1/2 face registers one emotion, 1/2 face registers another
- reason why it may be difficult to interpret facial expressions
display rules
- cultural norms can influence display of emotion
- culturally determined rules about which nonverbal B = appropriate
- i.e. some people believe it is more acceptable for men to get angry than women
cultures and influences: individualistic
more likely that expression of emotions is encouraged
cultures and influences: collectivistic
expression of strong negative emotions = discouraged because it can disrupt group harmony
cultures and influences: other nonverbal cues influenced by culture
- eye contact and gaze
- hand head gestures
- personal space and touching
emblems
- nonverbal gestures that have well-understood definitions within a given culture
- usually have direct verbal translations
- not universal (each culture has their own emblems)
first impressions
- can usually form impressions of others within milliseconds (usually from facial expression)
- tendency to inder what people are like solely on facial appearance emerges around 3y
- can be wrong, can be very accurate
- can be influenced by schemas about certain features
implicit personality theory
- type of schemas used to group various kinds of personality traits
- research shows that people tend to attribute less positive characteristics to individuals described as having low self-esteem
halo effect
- sociocognitive bias
- we assign positive attributes based on a single trait that we deem positive
causal attribution
- substantial ambiguity remains about why people act the way they do
- attribution theory
attribution theory
description of the way in which people explain the causes of their own B and other people’s B
types of causal attributions
- internal
- external
internal attributions
- person’s B is due to something about them
- attitude, character, personality
external attributions
- person’s B is due to something about the situation they are in
- assumption is that most people would respond the same way
Kelly’s Covariation Model (IMPORTANT)
- we choose internal/external attributions by noting pattern between presence (or absence) of possible causal factors and if B occurs (or not)
Kelly’s Covariation Model: types of information
- consensus
- distinctiveness
- consistency
consensus
extent to which other people behave the same way as actor does towards the same stimulus
distinctiveness
extent to which one particular actor behaves in the same way to different stimuli
consistency
extent to which the B between one actor and one stimulus is the same across time and circumstances
based on consensus, distinctiveness and consistency, we can make _______
internal attributions about:
- the actor
external attributions about:
- the object/stimulus
- the context (also known as temporary attributions)
fundamental attribution error
- also referred to as the correspondence bias
- tendency to overestimate the extent to which people’s B is due to internal factors
- to underestimate the role of situational factors
- consequences - blaming the victim
victim blaming
- tendency to explain other people’s B in dispositional terms
- can lead people to see stigmatized/victimized individuals as being responsible for their plight
2-step process theory on attribution
- make internal attribution
- attempt to adjust this attribution by considering the situation the person was in
- may be skipped due to lack of effort/time
- motivated to do this when we want to be accurate/are suspicious of a person’s B
- results in mainly internal attributions
culture and attributions
collectivist
- usually make situational attributions
individualistic
- usually make dispositional explanations
actor/observer difference
for ourselves
- situational
for others
- dispositional
*can cause person to overestimate their contribution to a shared task
defensive attributions
- way to deal with threats to self-esteem
- explanations for B that help us avoid feelings of vulnerability and mortality
- belief in just world
belief in just world
- assumption that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get
- allows us to be optimistic about the future BUT
- creates a tendency for victim blaming
