1 Outline Processing Info About Others Chapter 5, M. London Juan I. Sanchez, Ph.D. Dept. of Mgmt. & Int’l Business Florida Int’l University

2 Definition: Person perception is the process through which we form impressions and make inferences about other people in response to their behavior. Perceiver (in addition to the target) is an active participant in the process, and does influence the final judgment or evaluation.

3 Factors influencing person perception Expected patterns or behaviors (schemas or scripts) assume what behaviors take place under certain conditions. Cues and moods may prompt a schema. Schema content is determined by social stereotypes. Stereotypes help us simplify reality, but can bias our judgment. E.g., police work as a “masculine” activity. Controlling stereotypes: job-relatedness and accountability

4 Moods: positively disposed to others when we feel good about ourselves. Similarity, liking and friendship. Little self-awareness about one’s “policy” to judge others: fewer attributes and simpler combinations than we think. Limited motivation to recall: vividness, representativeness. Attribution biases. Purpose: evaluation vs. development. Impression management: the “spotlight ranger” syndrome.

5 Goals and motives: levels of processing theories: deep versus shallow level of processing. Times and conditions that motivate us to seek full information and process it carefully vs. simply confirming our initial expectations. –Automatic processing: when initial observations conform to category, they are automatically categorized and not considered further. –Careful Processing: if expectations are not met, then raters engage in further observation and/or consider situational factors.

6 Individual Characteristics Affecting Person Perception Observation Skills: experienced observers, high self-awareness, emotionally intelligent. Self-monitoring: sensitivity to others’ reactions to them. Empathy: ability to understand feelings and emotions while remaining at a social distance from those observed.