🎠Social Psychology Unit 5 – Social Perception and Attribution

Key Concepts in Social Perception

• Social perception involves the processes by which we form impressions and make inferences about others
• Nonverbal cues (facial expressions, body language) play a significant role in social perception
• Impression formation occurs rapidly, often based on limited information
• Primacy effect suggests that early information has a disproportionate influence on impressions
• Stereotypes are generalized beliefs about the characteristics of a particular group
  • Can lead to biased judgments and discriminatory behavior
• Halo effect occurs when a positive impression in one area influences overall perception
• Horn effect occurs when a negative impression in one area influences overall perception

The Process of Forming Impressions

• Forming impressions involves gathering and interpreting information about others
• Automatic processing occurs quickly and unconsciously (thin-slicing)
• Controlled processing is more deliberate and effortful
• Selective attention focuses on certain aspects of a person while ignoring others
• Categorization involves assigning people to groups based on shared characteristics
  • Helps simplify and organize social information
• Implicit personality theories guide expectations about traits that tend to co-occur
• Confirmation bias leads to seeking information that confirms initial impressions

Attribution Theory Basics

• Attribution theory examines how we explain the causes of behavior
• Internal attributions ascribe behavior to personal characteristics (personality, abilities)
• External attributions ascribe behavior to situational factors (social norms, incentives)
• Covariation model proposes that attributions are based on three types of information
  1. Consensus: extent to which others behave similarly in the same situation
  2. Distinctiveness: extent to which the person behaves differently in other situations
  3. Consistency: extent to which the person behaves similarly across time and situations
• Fundamental attribution error overestimates the role of internal factors and underestimates situational influences
• Self-serving bias takes credit for successes (internal attribution) and blames failures on external factors
• Actor-observer bias tends to make situational attributions for own behavior and dispositional attributions for others

Common Attribution Biases

• Correspondence bias overestimates the extent to which behavior reflects stable personality traits
• False consensus effect overestimates the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors
• Ultimate attribution error attributes negative behaviors of outgroup members to internal causes and positive behaviors to external causes
• Defensive attribution assigns more responsibility to victims whose fate seems more likely to befall oneself
• Just-world hypothesis assumes that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get
• Belief in a just world can lead to blaming victims for their misfortunes
• Hindsight bias overestimates the predictability of past events after they have occurred

Factors Influencing Social Perception

• Perceiver characteristics (goals, emotions, cognitive load) influence social perception
• Target characteristics (physical appearance, race, gender) can trigger stereotypes and biases
• Situational factors (context, roles, social norms) provide cues for interpreting behavior
• Salience of information draws attention and influences impressions
  • Distinctive or unusual information is more salient and memorable
• Mood-congruent processing leads to recalling information consistent with current emotional state
• Cognitive load reduces capacity for controlled processing and increases reliance on automatic processing
• Motivation to form accurate impressions leads to more effortful processing

Cultural Differences in Attribution

• Individualistic cultures emphasize personal autonomy and individual differences
  • Tend to make more internal attributions
• Collectivistic cultures emphasize group harmony and situational constraints
  • Tend to make more external attributions
• Self-serving bias is more prevalent in individualistic cultures
• Holistic thinking (considering the entire context) is more common in East Asian cultures
• Analytic thinking (focusing on specific elements) is more common in Western cultures
• Cultural differences in attribution reflect different cultural values and worldviews
  • Influence how people interpret and respond to social information

Real-World Applications

• Understanding social perception is crucial for effective interpersonal communication
• Awareness of biases can help reduce prejudice and discrimination
• Perspective-taking involves considering others' viewpoints and can improve empathy
• Impression management techniques (self-presentation) are used to influence others' perceptions
• Job interviews and performance evaluations are influenced by social perception processes
• Marketing and advertising strategies often rely on principles of social perception
  • Endorsements by attractive or popular figures (halo effect)
• Legal decision-making can be affected by attribution biases (fundamental attribution error)

Key Takeaways and Reflection

• Social perception is a complex process involving automatic and controlled processing
• Impressions are formed rapidly based on limited information and influenced by various biases
• Attribution theory explains how we infer the causes of behavior
• Common attribution biases include the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias
• Perceiver, target, and situational factors interact to shape social perception
• Cultural differences in attribution reflect different cultural values and worldviews
• Understanding social perception has important implications for various real-world contexts
• Reflecting on one's own biases and actively engaging in perspective-taking can improve social interactions and decision-making