17.1 Person Perception and Attribution

Person perception is a complex process influenced by cognitive biases and mental shortcuts. We often make quick judgments about others based on limited information, leading to errors like the fundamental attribution error and actor-observer bias.

Our brains use schemas and heuristics to efficiently process social information. While these tools help us navigate the social world, they can also lead to biased perceptions and reinforce stereotypes if we're not careful.

Attribution Processes in Person Perception

Fundamental attribution error impact

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• Overemphasizes internal factors and underestimates external factors when explaining others' behavior leads to biased judgments about personalities or motivations
• Overlooks situational influences on behavior results in incomplete understanding of social interactions
• Manifests in everyday situations attributing coworker tardiness to laziness rather than traffic conditions
• Affects interpersonal relationships assuming stranger's rudeness stems from personality not external stressors (recent job loss)

Internal vs external attributions

• Internal attributions ascribe behavior to personal characteristics, traits, or abilities (effort, intelligence, personality)
• External attributions attribute behavior to situational or environmental factors (task difficulty, luck, social pressure)
• Locus of control distinguishes internal (within person) from external (outside person) factors
• Stability differs internal attributions often viewed as more consistent over time while external can be variable

Factors in attribution process

• Actor-observer bias attributes own actions to external causes while others' actions to internal causes due to differences in available information and perspective
• Self-serving bias attributes positive outcomes to internal factors and negative outcomes to external factors protects self-esteem
• Cultural influences shape attribution patterns (collectivist vs individualist societies)
• Consensus information considers how others behave in similar situations affects judgments
• Distinctiveness examines whether behavior is unique to a particular situation or consistent across contexts

Cognitive Processes in Person Perception

Schemas and heuristics in perception

• Cognitive schemas organize and interpret information about people and situations (person schemas, role schemas, event schemas)
• Heuristics serve as mental shortcuts for quick judgments (availability heuristic: easily recalled information, representativeness heuristic: similarity to prototypes)
• Primacy effect gives greater influence to initial information while recency effect emphasizes most recent information in forming impressions
• Implicit personality theories shape expectations about co-occurring traits influence behavior interpretations
• Confirmation bias leads to seeking information confirming existing beliefs about a person reinforces preconceptions
• Stereotypes activation influences judgments and interpretations of behavior can lead to biased perceptions