1. Chapter 2: Social Perception

2. Chapter Outline Nonverbal Communication
Attribution Theories and Errors
Impression Formation and Impression Management
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.3 2

3. Social Perception
Social Perception- process through which we seek to understand other persons
What do nonverbal cues tell us?
How do we explain other’s behavior?
What types of errors bias our thinking?
How do we form first impressions of others?
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.4 4 10 10

4. Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal Communication- an unspoken language of expressions and body language
Basic channels
facial expressions- reveals current moods/feelings
eye contact- reveals friendliness, shyness, aggression
body language (position, posture, movement)- reveals emotional states, status, cultural emblems
touching- reveals affection, interest, dominance, caring, threat, aggression
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.5 4 10 10

5. Facial Expressions and Social Thought
Cognitive tuning model (Schwarz, 1990)
when others smile, we sense that the current situation is safe so we process information superficially (heuristic processing)
when others frown, we sense that careful thought about their words is required (systematic processing)
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.6 4 10 10

6. Facial Expressions and Social Cognition
Based on data from Ottati, Terkildsen, & Hubbard, 1997

7. Attribution Theories
Attribution- seek to determine causes behind others’ behavior
Correspondent inference- infer others’ traits from observing their behavior, especially. when behavior:
is freely chosen
person rallying for women’s rights is feminist
is socially undesirable (or unusual)
teacher who wears tie-dye shirts is free spirit
yields noncommon effects (one cause only)
woman who marries rich, stupid, ugly man is probably marrying for money
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.7 4 10 10

8. Inferences Using Noncommon Effects
Prestigious School
Clinical Program
Desirable Location
Lots of Requirements
Prestigious School
Desirable Location
Lots of Requirements

9. Inferences Using Noncommon Effects
Prestigious School
Clinical Program
Desirable Location
Prestigious School
Lots of Requirements
Desirable Location

10. Attribution Theories (con’t)
Causal attribution theory- we attribute the cause of others’ behavior to internal or external factors1
internal- caused by person’s traits (disposition)
external- caused by situation
To explain other’s behavior we use:
consensus- extent others behave in same way
consistency- extent person always behaves this way
distinctiveness- extent person acts differently in other situations
1Other dimensions include:
stable/unstable; controllable/uncontrollable
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.8 4 10 10

11. Why Was Student Late?
Internal attribution (e.g., student is lazy) made if:
Low consensus: no one else came in late
High consistency: in the past, student has come in late
Low distinctiveness: student is late to other classes
External attribution (e.g., more time needed between classes) made if:
High consensus: other students came in late
High distinctiveness: student is only late to this class
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.9 2

12. Why did student do well on exam?

13. Handling Multiple Causes
When multiple causes are present the following may occur:
Discounting Principle- tendency to downplay importance of one cause if others exist
Why is woman claiming harassment? Good Samaritan or spurned lover?
Augmenting Principle- tendency to increase importance of one factor when behavior occurs in the presence of an inhibitory factor
Woman claims sexual harassment even though she strongly supported the president is more believable
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.10 4 10 10

14. Attributional Errors Attributional Errors
Fundamental attribution error (correspondence bias)- tendency to overestimate internal causes of other’s behavior while ignoring external causes
Actor-observer effect- tendency to attribute own behavior to external causes, but others to internal
Self-serving bias- tendency to take credit for success and blame failures on the situation
Western (individualistic) cultures are more susceptible to these biases than Eastern (collectivistic) cultures
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.11 4 10 10

15. Attributional Errors (con’t)
Actor-observer effect occurs because:
differences in perceptual salience
to actor- the situation is most salient
to observer- the actor grabs attention
difference in information
observers have no access to actor’s behavioral history
western culture- predisposes us to assume that people, not situations cause events
Self-serving bias occurs because:
need to protect and enhance our self-esteem
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.12 4 10 10

16. Applications of Attribution Theory
Attribution and Depression
depressed persons often show a self-defeating pattern of attributions opposite of the self-serving bias
attribute positive events to temporary, external causes
attribute negative events to internal causes
cognitive therapy that reverses pattern is effective
Attribution and Rape
people with a strong belief in a just world (“bad things happen to bad people”) are more likely to blame the rape victim
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.13 4 10 10

17. Impression Formation
Impression Formation- how we form impressions of others
central traits (e.g., warm-cold) strongly shape the overall impression of a stranger
primacy effect- information presented first often has stronger impact on impressions
impressions of others consist of both exemplars (examples of specific behavior) and abstractions (mental summaries of general behavior)
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.14 2

18. Impression Management
Impression Management- efforts to produce a favorable first impression
Techniques include
self-enhancement- boost one’s appeal
boost physical appearance, use immodesty
other-enhancement- induce positive moods in others
flattery, express liking, agree with target’s views
if overdone, however, “slime effect” can occur
techniques not always under conscious control
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.15 2

19. Impression Accuracy
Social perceptions of others are often accurate because:
physical and psychological traits stem from same genetic factors
psychological traits cause physical traits to develop
actions may be reflected in our faces
physical traits cause psychological traits to develop
attractive people are treated differently
people gradually develop the traits others expect them to have (self-fulfilling)
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
2.16 2