social perception
a general term for the processes by which people come to understand one another
mind perception
process by which people attribute humanlike mental states to various animate and inanimate objects, including other people
first impression
people evaluate unconsciously and spontaneously whether a face indicates that a person is dominant / submissive and trustworthy / untrustworthy
physiognomy
the art of reading character from faces
effect of baby-facedness on first impressions
humans are evolutionarily programmed to respond gently to infantile features
nonverbal behavior
reveals a person’s feelings without words, through facial expressions, body language and vocal cues
disgust recognition in faces
in nature, food poisoning is a real danger, so it is an adaptive trait to recognize disgust in facial expressions
familiarity breeds accuracy
people are 9% more accurate at judging faces from their own ethnic group (in-group advantage)
central traits
traits that exert a powerful influence on overall impressions
information integration theory
impressions are based on 1) perceiver dispositions 2) a weighted average of a target person’s traits
implicit personality theory
a network of assumptions people make about the relationships among traits and behaviors
attribution
the process by which we explain people’s behavior
people learn about others from behavior that is:
- freely chosen
- unexpected
- results in a small number of desirable outcomes
personal attribution
attribution to internal characteristics of an actor, such as ability, personality, mood or effort
situational attribution
attribution to factors external to an actor, such as a task, other people or luck
Kelley’s covariation theory (covariation principle)
people attribute behavior to factors that are present when a behavior occurs and are absent when it does not
consensus
the extent to which other people behave in the same way in a similar situation
e.g. Alison smokes a cigarette when she goes out for a meal with her friend. If her friend smokes, her behavior is high in consensus. If only Alison smokes, it is low.
distinctiveness
the extent to which the person behaves in the same way in similar situations
e.g. If Alison only smokes when she is out with friends, her behavior is high in distinctiveness. If she smokes at any time or place, her distinctiveness is low.
consistency
the extent to which the person behaves like this every time the situation occurs
e.g. If Alison only smokes when she is out with friends, consistency is high. If she only smokes on one special occasion, consistency is low.
correspondent inference theory
a model describing how people form inferences about other people’s stable personality characteristics from observing their behaviors
cognitive heuristics
rules of thumb enabling us to make judgments quick (with errors)
belief in a just world
individuals get what they deserve in life, an orientation that leads people to disparage victims
fundamental attribution error
overestimation of the role of personal factors while underestimating situational ones
cultural differences in attribution
asians are more likely than americans (collectivist vs individualist) to consider the impact of social and situational factors
