Social Perception PDF

SOCIAL PERCEPTION An active process through which we seek to know and understand others. It is one of the most basic – and important aspects of social life. SOCIAL PERCEPTION NONVERBAL ATTRIBUTION COMMUNICATION Facial Expressions Theory of Correspondent...

SOCIAL PERCEPTION An active process through which we seek to know and understand others. It is one of the most basic – and important aspects of social life. SOCIAL PERCEPTION NONVERBAL ATTRIBUTION COMMUNICATION Facial Expressions Theory of Correspondent Inference Eye Contact IMPRESSION FORMATION AND Body Language Kelly’s Theory of Causal IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT Attributions Touching Basic Sources of Error NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: THE UNSPOKEN LANGUAGE OF EXPRESSIONS, GAZES, AND GESTURES Information about our inner states is often revealed through five basic channels: a. Facial expressions; b. Eye contact; c. Body movements; d. Postures; and e. Touching FACIAL EXPRESSIONS The face is the image of the soul  Human feelings and emotions are often FACIAL reflected in the face and can be read EXPRESSIONS there in specific expressions. There are six (6) basic emotions on the human face: 1. Anger 2. Fear 3. Happiness 4. Sadness 5. Surprise 6. Disgust  Studies conducted in many different cultures suggest that human beings all over the world tend to show highly similar facial expressions (Ekman and Keltner, 1997). BODY Our current moods or emotions are LANGUAGE often reflected in the position, posture and movement of our bodies, in which, provide us with useful information about others. It often reveals others’ emotional states. Large numbers of movements – especially ones in which one part of the body does something to another part, suggest emotional arousal.  EYE CONTACT  EYE When evaluating body language, pay attention to the follow eye signals: CONTACT – Eye Gaze It indicates that they are interested and paying attention. Prolonged eye contact can feel threatening. Breaking eye contact and frequently looking away might indicate that the person is distracted, uncomfortable, or trying to conceal his or her real feelings. High level of gazing from another as a sign of liking or friendliness. – Staring – Often interpreted as a sign of anger or hostility  EYE – Blinking: People often blink more rapidly when they are feeling CONTACT distressed or uncomfortable. Infrequent blinking may indicate that a person is intentionally trying to control his or her eye movements. – Pupil Size:  When evaluating body language, pay attention THE to the following mouth and lip signals: MOUTH – Pursed lips: Tightening the lips might be an indicator of distaste, disapproval, or distrust. – Lip biting: People sometimes bite their lips when they are worried, anxious, or stressed. – Covering the mouth: When people want to hide an emotional reaction, they might cover their mouths in order to avoid displaying smiles or smirks. – Turned up or down: When the mouth is slightly turned up, it might mean that the person is feeling happy or optimistic. On the other hand, a slightly down-turned mouth can be an indicator of sadness, disapproval, or even an outright grimace.  The following examples are just a few common gestures GESTURES and their possible meanings: – A clenched fist can indicate anger in some situations or solidarity in others. – A thumbs up and thumbs down are often used as gestures of approval and disapproval. – The "Okay" gesture, made by touching together the thumb and index finger in a circle while extending the other three fingers can be used to mean okay or all right. – In some parts of Europe, however, the same signal is used to imply you are nothing. In some South American countries, the symbol is actually a vulgar gesture. – The V sign means peace or victory in some countries. In the United Kingdom and Australia, the symbol takes on an offensive meaning when the back of the hand is facing outward.  When you are evaluating body language, pay THE ARMS attention to some of the following signals that the arms and legs may convey: AND LEGS – Crossed arms might indicate that a person feels defensive, self-protective, or closed-off. – Standing with hands placed on the hips can be an indication that a person is ready and in control, or it can also possibly be a sign of aggressiveness. – Clasping the hands behind the back might indicate that a person is feeling bored, anxious, or even angry. – Rapidly tapping fingers or fidgeting can be a sign that a person is bored, impatient, or frustrated. – Crossed legs can indicate that a person is feeling closed off or in need of privacy.  Posture refers to how we hold our bodies as well as the POSTURE overall physical form of an individual. Posture can convey a wealth of information about how a person is feeling as well as hints about personality characteristics, such as whether a person is confident, open, or submissive. – Sitting up straight, for example, may indicate that a person is focused and paying attention to what's going on. Sitting with the body hunched forward, on the other hand, can imply that the person is bored or indifferent. When you are trying to read body language, try to notice some of the signals that a person's posture can send. – Open posture involves keeping the trunk of the body open and exposed. This type of posture indicates friendliness, openness, and willingness. – Closed posture involves hiding the trunk of the body often by hunching forward and keeping the arms and legs crossed. This type of posture can be an indicator of hostility, unfriendliness, and anxiety.  Proxemics refers to the distance between people as they interact. Just as body movements and facial expressions can communicate a great deal of PERSONAL nonverbal information, so can this physical space between individuals. – Intimate Distance - 6 to 18 Inches: This level of physical distance often SPACE indicates a closer relationship or greater comfort between individuals. It often occurs during intimate contact such as hugging, whispering, or touching. – Personal Distance - 1.5 to 4 Feet: Physical distance at this level usually occurs between people who are family members or close friends. The closer the people can comfortably stand while interacting can be an indicator of the level of intimacy of their relationship. – Social Distance - 4 to 12 Feet: This level of physical distance is often used with individuals who are acquaintances. With someone you know fairly well, such as a co-worker you see several times a week, you might feel more comfortable interacting at a closer distance. In cases where you do not know the other person well, such as a postal delivery driver you only see once a month, a distance of 10 to 12 feet may feel more comfortable. – Public Distance - 12 to 25 Feet: Physical distance at this level is often used in public speaking situations. Talking in front of a class full of students or giving a presentation at work are good examples of such situations.  The most intimate nonverbal TOUCHING cue. Factors to consider in touching: – Who does the touching – The nature of physical contact – The context in which it takes place  Touch can suggest affection, sexual interest, dominance, caring, or even aggression. When touching is considered acceptable, positive reactions often result. If it is perceived as a status or power play, or if it is too prolonged or intimate, touching may evoke anxiety, anger, and other negative reactions. ATTRIBUTION ATTRIBUTION It refers to the process of inferring the causes of events and behaviors. ATTRIBUTION TYPES: a. Interpersonal attribution b. Predictive attribution c. Explanatory attribution Fritz Heider (1958) argued that people observe others, analyze their behavior, and come up with their own common sense explanations for such actions. Internal Attribution External Attribution (Dispositional) (situational) The process of assigning the cause The process of assigning the of behavior to some internal cause of behavior to some characteristic, rather than to situation or event outside a outside forces. person's control rather than to When we explain the behavior of some internal characteristic. others we look for enduring internal attributions, such as When we try to explain our personality traits. own behavior we tend to make For example, we attribute the external attributions, such as behavior of a person to their situational or environment personality, motives or beliefs. features. CORRESPONDENT INFERENCE THEORY - Coined by Edward Jones and Keith Davis in 1965. - People make inferrences about others in cases where actions are intentional rather than accidental. - This theory simply says that people try to explain behavior by finding a match between the behavior they can see and the stable qualities/ personality traits of the person displaying it. - When we infer others’ traits from their behavior, we based on the: a. degree of choice b. expectedness of the behavior c. effects of that behavior KELLEY’S THEORY OF CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION - Illustrates that our knowledge of behavior is used to make attributions based on the consensus, consistency and distinctiveness of the available information. - It looks at how such information co-varies with each other. a. Is there consensus? – “Do other people behave in the same way as the individual?” b. Is there consistency? – “Does the individual behaved in the same way in the past, or on each occasion?” c. Is there distinctiveness – “Where different behavior is shown in similar but different, circumstances?” ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS: why you are innocent and they’re all guilty a. Fundamental Attribution Error - The tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to internal factors such as personality traits, abilities, and feelings. - It explains why people often blame other people for things over which they usually have no control. - Blaming the victim – people blame innocent victims of crimes for their misfortune. - Observer bias - Example: Alexis falls asleep in class. Sean attributes her behavior to laziness. When he fell asleep in class last week, however, he attributed his own behavior to the all-nighter he pulled finishing a term paper. b. Actor-Observer Effect The bias happens when individuals base their perceptions of others on internal factors such personality, motives, or thoughts. In turn, we tend to explain our own behavior with external or situational factors, like time of day or the weather. Actor bias c. Self-serving Bias Tendency to attribute positive events to their own character but attribute negative events to external factors. Actor bias Examples: – Positive event - You get an A for an essay and you attribute it to your own awesomeness! (internal attribution) – Negative event - You get a C on an essay and you attribute it to your professor not having explained what they wanted well enough. (external attribution). FORMATION and IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT First impressions, it is widely believed, are very important. Initial impressions we make on others will shape the course of our future relations to them.  The process by which we form an overall impression of someone’s character and abilities based on available information about their traits and behaviors. Factors that influence the relative weighting: 1. The source of the input 2. Whether the information is positive or negative in nature 3. Extent to which the information describes the behaviors’ traits that are unusual or extreme 4. Information received first tends to be weighted more heavily that information received later known as the primacy effect.  Efforts by individuals to produce favorable impressions on others (self-presentation). What tactics do individuals use to crate favorable impressions on others? Falls into two major categories: a. Self-enhancement – efforts to boost our own image b. Other-enhancement – efforts to make the target person feel good in our presence.  SELF-ENHANCEMENT OTHER-ENHANCEMENT Improve our own appearance Flattery Manner or general behavior, Doing small favors for them such as being pleasant, Asking for advice/ feedback assertive, etc. Expressing liking for them either Boosting the belief of the verbally or nonverbally individual that he/ she is a lovable and capable human being  Impression management is neither good nor bad, it is an integral part of our social interaction and everyone gets involved in it everyday.