social perception Flashcards
what is social perception and the two aspects
study of how we form impressions and make inferences about other people
- nonverbal communication
- causal attributions
explain facial expressions of emotion
-face shows a lot of what someone is feeling, provides useful information
how is reading someone’s face adaptive
it is adaptive to know what someone is feeling
-serves a function, helps us survive and reproduce, those who can read faces have better chance of survival because we are social creatures
aside from perceiving others emotions from facial expression, what else is important
conveying how we feel to others
how do other animals convey emotion
through body language (dogs, cats use paws, tails etc.)
-chimps can use face
what are the universal expressions of 6 basic emotions
- emotions that are universally expressed the same way
1) joy
2) disgust
3) surprise
4) sadness
5) anger
6) fear
people can detect these emotions just by looking at face
is pride a universal emotion?
recently literature says yes, but you need more than just a face
explain the research done by Ekman to show how emotions are read by facial features
asked american participants to adjust their face to show the 6 different emotions and took pictures
- then asked hunter gatherer group (Fore group) to show face for certain situations and took pictures, chose this group because they had no exposure to western media
ex. show face you would make if your son died
-then showed Fore group American pictures and Americans the Fore pictures, both groups matched the picture to the emotion or scenario better than chance
what did Ekman’s research to show how emotions are read by facial features show us
-there is some universal aspect to facial expressions and emotion (even though it can vary by culture), universality of emotion, 6 basic facial expressions
how did muscle research show how emotions are universal
videoed people showing different emotions and found muscle movements in response to different emotions are the same or similar
how was it found that people mimic other’s facial expressions
happens subconsciously, when image of different facial expressions are flashed quickly people’s faces that are attached to electrodes changed
what are some examples of emotions that vary across people
embarrassment and shame
how did the blind people study show us more about the universality of facial expressions showing emotion (pride vs shame)
recorded blind people (born blind) when they won or lose in the special olympics, did the same thing with olympic athletes when they won or lost
-asked participants to tell whether the athlete won or lost
results: blind athletes and non-blind athletes had the same faces when they win and lose
- shows emotion expressed in facial expressions is innate, not something that is learned
when is someone better at detecting how someone is feeling and why
better at detecting how someone is feeling from own culture
-because of emotion dialects
what are emotion dialects
basic facial expressions everyone shares, but certain cultures have a slightly different dialect
explain Ekman’s study on pride
same study as previous Ekman study, but people could not detect the difference in pride/ happiness when looking at just the face
-but could when the picture was from the torso up because when prideful: shoulders back, head lifted, smile, arms lifted as well
is there a reason we have these particular muscle reactions to emotion
-shape of expression may be beneficial in an evolutionary context
explain shape of expression may be beneficial in an evolutionary context
ex. disgust and fear have opposite facial expressions
disgust: eyes squint, nostrils get larger, mouth upward
fear: eyes open wide, nostrils close, mouth downward
beneficial in certain situations that incite fear or disgust
fear: eyes widen to enable to see more (when eyes widen we are better at tracking movement in periphery), nose opens to increase air flow (mouth open as well)
disgust: eyes squint to prevent situation from entering sense, nose closes to prevent poor smell to enter sense (mouth closed)
genetic mutation that allowed people to make these faces in situations increased survival and got passed on
what are display rules
culturally specific rules that govern how and when and to whom we express emotions
-we show emotion in similar ways but the situations in which we show it or can show it vary across cultures
explain display rules in US vs. other cultures
US is a very expressive culture of emotion and facial expression
-different in other cultures
explain the study of expressing emotion in different cultures
US and Japan participants tested in own country and had them watch a disgusting circumcision video
-manipulated alone (no one would see face when watching) or another person in room (authority figure- experimenter)
results:
- US and Japan showed same facial expression when alone
- US showed more disgust when another person was around and Japan showed less disgust
what is a display rule in Japan
norm for women to hide smile
what is a display rule/norm that varies among sexes
men can show anger, women are expected to not show it
explain the smile activity in class and what it showed us
-distinguishing real and fake smiles, we looked for eye movement, laughter, body movement
showed us Duchenne smile: (genuine smile) there are two distinct features that show us a real smile: wrinkles around eyes (crows feet), additional contraction of muscle around mouth when we are genuinely happy
explain the video activity of Brown’s mom in class and what it showed us
watched video of woman in class with no sound and had to rank qualities: extroversion, fluctuation of emotions and conscientious (detail oriented) -people looked at movement, eye contact, laughter, body language and were able to make correct judgments about the woman
“thin slices”
explain “thin slices”
with brief exposure (thin slices) of information about another person, we can make quite accurate inferences
- with just a little information about a person (seeing them talk, not hearing them) we are good at telling things about a person (better than chance)
- *Some traits express themselves better than others, for example extroversion**
explain the study about the professor and thin slices
ratings for person on 15 second video of a professor matched quite well to their perceptions ratings after multiple weeks
what else can people consider as “thin slices”
political views, gender, ethnicity, etc
explain “who would you let borrow your car”
two random guys, but it was a unanimous decision as to who you would let borrow your car
certain facial features are depicted as trustworthy, others as untrustworthy
what faces are perceived as trustworthy and which ones are not
trustworthy: high inner eyebrows, shallow indentation, wide chin, pronounced cheekbones, wide eyes, feminine nose, lips curling up
untrustworthy: low inner eyebrows, thin chin, deep indentation, shallow cheek bones, narrow eyes, masculine nose, lips curving down
- baby faces seen as more trustworthy
- resting bitch face, people are not actually angry just born with a face that makes it look like they are feeling a certain way
These variables cannot be changed but affect likelihood of people trusting you
does the effect of trustworthy vs. not-trustworthy faces happen in the real world study
Wilson and Rule looked at criminal sentences (death penalty or years in jail) and how harsh the crime was (same crime different punishment)
- had people rate the faces for trustworthiness (of the ones who committed crimes)
results: faces of people who got death penalty were rated less trustworthy than those in jail - facial trustworthiness predicted harshness of sentence for people convicted of crime
explain the problem with the effect of trustworthy vs. not-trustworthy faces happen in the real world study and how it was addressed
correlational so temporal precedence was not met
-could be poor faces are more likely to get harsh penalty or those who are more likely to get the harsh penalty (commit worse crimes) are more likely to have poor faces
innocence project: people sent to jail or death penalty, but then DNA comes out and they are actually innocent (a lot of the times related to racial bias)
- researchers got individuals who were innocent but convicted of crime
- showed participants the individuals and the faces of less trustworthiness were rated that they should get the death penalty even though all were innocent (rules out those more likely to commit worse crimes are likely to have poorer faces)
