Define social perception.
Study of how we form
impressions of other people and make inferences about them. (make judgement of others and determine their intentions)
What is an important source of information for social perception?
non verbal communication
Define nonverbal communication and non-verbal cues.
Nonverbal communication:
– The way in which people communicate, intentionally or
unintentionally, without words.
Non-verbal cues:
– Include facial expressions, tones of voice, gestures, body
position and movement, the use of touch, and eye gaze
Difference encode and decode in nonverbal communication.
Encode: to express or emit nonverbal communication, such as smiling or patting someone on the back.
Decode: to interpret the meaning of the nonverbal communication
others express.
– E.g.: Deciding that a pat on the back is an expression of
condescension and not kindness.
-it’s attaching meaning of the nonverbal communication which can be misinterpreted
What are the most significant channel of nonverbal communication?
Facial expressiosns!
What did Charles Darwin believe about facial expressions?
Charles Darwin believed that the primary emotions conveyed by
the face are universal.
What do Ekman and his colleagues support>
Cross-cultural research by Ekman and his colleagues support the universality of at least six facial expressions of emotion:
– Anger, happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, and sadness.
What do other researchers (e.g. Russell et al.) say about this?
- Other researchers question the universal recognition of the basic
facial expressions of emotion (e.g., Russell et al., 1993). - Both context and culture influence how facial expressions are
interpreted.
– tempt and others have since been added to the list.
Define affect blend.
- Facial expressions may sometimes be hard to interpret accurately
because people often display affect blends. - This is where one part of a person’s face registers one emotion
while another part registers a different emotion.
Define display rules.
- Cultural norms can also influence display of emotions.
- Display rules are culturally determined rules about which
nonverbal behaviours are appropriate to display.
– E.g.: Some people view it to be more acceptable for men to
display anger than it is for women. - cross-cultural confusion/misunderstanding (better decoding in own culture)
What is the difference between individualist and collectivist cultures in how expression of emotions are encouraged.
- The more individualistic a culture, the more likely that the
expression of emotions is encouraged. - In collectivist cultures, the expression of strong negative emotions is discouraged because it can disrupt group harmony.
What are other forms of nonverbal communication that are also influenced by culture?
– Eye contact and gaze
– Personal space and touching
– Hand and head gestures, for example:
* OK sign
* Thumps Up gesture
* Hand-purse gesture
* Nodding the head
What are emblems?
– Are nonverbal gestures that have well-understood definitions
within a given culture.
– Usually have direct verbal translations, such as the “Okay”
sign.
– Are not universal; each culture has devised its own emblems.
Give an example of an emblem.
The V sign.
USA = harmless backwards sign for peace
Australis, UK, Ireland, NZ = seen as rude and frequently used to signify contempt or defence towards authority
Tell me about facial expressions.
- We can form impressions of others, usually based on facial
expressions within milliseconds. - Indeed, the tendency to infer what people are like based solely on
facial appearance emerges as early as 3 years of age. - Frequently, our first impressions are wrong, but at times, they can
be very accurate. - First impressions can be influenced by schemas about the
personality qualities believed to accompany certain features:
– What is beautiful is good.
– Bearded men are trustworthy.
– Looking up and to the right signifies morality.
What is an implicit personality theory?
Type of schema people use to
group various kinds of personality traits.
– E.g.: Someone who is kind must also be generous.
* Research shows that people tend to attribute less positive
characteristics to individuals described as having low self-esteem.
(A to B to C = connection)
Define the halo effect
A form of sociocognitive bias where we assign positive attributes to a person based on a single trait or traits that we deem positive or attracted to.
What is the opposite of the halo effect?
The horn effect
A cognitive bias where an overall negative impression of a person is formed based on a single, often superficial, negative trait or incident
Define the attribution theory.
A cognitive bias where an overall negative impression of a person is formed based on a single, often superficial, negative trait or incident (+ to make sense of our own behaviour)
Heider distinguished between two kinds of causal attributions:
internal and external
Define internal attribution (or dispositional)
inference that a
person’s behaviour is due to something about them, such as their
attitude, character, or personality.
Define external attribution (or situational)
an inference that a
person’s behaviour is because of something about the situation
they are in
– The assumption is that most people would respond the same
way in that situation.
For the following, are the attributions internal or external?
- Jimmy just failed his math test. His parents confront the
teacher for making the test too hard. - Patty was at a party and dropped her drink on the floor. The
host says, “typical Patty.” - Marty is getting ready to catch a fly ball. He drops the ball and
says the sun was in his eye. - Craig just won the lottery. He says he won because he was so persistent in buying a ticket each day.
- Jill arrived late at the office. When her boss asks her why she
was late, she responded “my alarm didn’t go off”.
external
internal
external
internal
external
In short, what is the covariation model?
internal v.s. external attributions (How do people choose between an internal and an external attribution when judging a person’s behavior?)
