Perception and Attribution

Social Perception * Intro * We form impression spontaneously because people are unpredictable * People are active- you want to know why someone did that * When you interact with someone you are affecting their behavior * What information do you use when forming an impression of a person? * We use demographic (age, ethnicity, etc.) * We use these quite often because they are obvious * You get a third person input * Continuum Model of Impression Formation * You have these impression from very general to specific, this model says * Start general with categories and on key factors you may get more specific * Power difference: individual perception on someone that impacts your life (professor, friend, romantic partners, etc.) someone that has power in your relationship * Mismatch between category and behavior: helps explain stereotypes (subtyping them) * Spontaneous train inferences * We do this automatic, spontaneously * Basic Non-verbal channels: * Facial expressions- they current moods * Eye contact- positive and negative feelings * Body language- reveal emotional state * Touching * Paralinguistic channel- you can say words in different ways * Channels of Communications * Three types * Emblems- depend on the country, because in one country it may be okay but in another it may be offensive * Illustrators * Adapters- we are unaware of it, for example a man touching his beard for no reason but it seems like they are in deep thought when they aren’t * Deception: Spot the Liar! * Their behaviors are less controllable * We are trained to listen to what they say rather than watch their behavior * Forming an Impression: * Evaluation- good or bad * Cognitive weighted average * Direct information * Your given more