Chapter 2: Social Perception

Chapter Outline
Nonverbal

Communication
Attribution Theories and Errors
Impression Formation and
Impression Management

Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon

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 others 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

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

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

Facial Expressions and Social

Cognition
Influence on Impressions

2.00

1.76
Issues
Ideology

1.50
1.00
0.50

0.81
0.70
0.38

0.39

0.00
-0.50

Neutral
Angry
Happy
-0.37
Expressions Shown by Speaker

Based on data from Ottati, Terkildsen, & Hubbard, 1997

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

is

socially undesirable (or unusual)

person rallying for womens rights is feminist

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

Inferences Using Noncommon

Effects

Prestigious School
Clinical Program
Desirable Location
Lots of Requirements

Prestigious School
Desirable Location
Lots of Requirements

Inferences Using Noncommon

Effects

Prestigious School
Clinical Program
Desirable Location

Prestigious School
Lots of Requirements
Desirable Location

Attribution Theories (cont)

Causal attribution theory- we attribute the cause of

others behavior to internal or external factors1
internal- caused by persons traits (disposition)
external- caused by situation
To explain others 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

Other dimensions include:

stable/unstable; controllable/uncontrollable
1

Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon

2.8

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 consistency: in the past, student has come in late
High distinctiveness: student is only late to this class

Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon

2.9

Why did student do well on

exam?

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

Attributional Errors

Attributional Errors
Fundamental

attribution error (correspondence

bias)- tendency to overestimate internal causes of
others 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

Attributional Errors (cont)

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 actors 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

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

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

Impression Management
Impression Management- efforts to produce a
favorable first impression
Techniques include
self-enhancement

boost ones appeal

boost physical appearance, use immodesty

other-enhancement

induce positive moods in others

flattery, express liking, agree with targets 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

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