SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

CHAPTER 3: PERCEIVING OTHERS (OUTLINE)

Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
1 discuss the elements of social perception and how people use them to derive meaning
and make judgements
2 compare and contrast attribution theories and describe how biases, culture and
motivations influence attribution
3 explain how individuals integrate information to form impressions of others
4 detail how belief perseverance, confirmatory hypothesis testing, and self-fulfilling
prophecies shape social reality
5 discuss how social perception is characterised by both
accuracy and bias.

INTEGRATION: FROM DISPOSITIONS TO IMPRESSIONS

When behaviour is attributed to situational factors, we do not make strong inferences about the actor.
However, personal attributions often lead us to infer that a person has a certain disposition; However, human
beings are not one-dimensional, and one trait does not make a person. To have a complete picture of
someone, social perceivers must assemble the various bits and pieces into a unified impression.

Impression formation- The process of integrating information about a person to form a coherent impression.
Suppose you are told that an applicant is friendly and intelligent – two highly favourable qualities. Would
you be more or less impressed if you then learned that this applicant was also prudent and even-tempered –
two moderately favourable qualities? If you are more impressed, then you are intuitively following a summation
model of impression formation – the more positive traits there are, the better. If you are less impressed, then
you are using an averaging model – the higher the average value of all the various traits, the better.

Information integration theory- After extensive amounts of research, it appears that although people do tend to
combine traits by averaging, the process is somewhat more complicated. Consistent with Anderson’s (1981)
information integration theory, impressions formed of others are based on a combination or integration of (1)
personal dispositions and the current state of the perceiver and (2) a weighted average of a target person’s
characteristics.

Deviations from the arithmetic- Like other aspects of our social perceptions and attributions, impression
formation does not follow the rules of cold logic. Weighted averaging may describe the way most people
combine different traits Thus, certain deviations from the ‘arithmetic’ are inevitable (di maiiwasan).

-Perceiver characteristics
● Each of us differs in terms of the kinds of impressions we form of others. Some people seem to
measure others with an intellectual yardstick; others look for physical beauty, a warm smile, a good
sense of humour or a firm handshake. Whatever the attribute, each of us is more likely to notice and
recall certain traits than others
● Part of the reason for differences among perceivers is that we tend to use ourselves as a standard, or
frame of reference, when evaluating others.
● A perceiver’s current mood state can also influence the impressions formed of others
● Are most likely to influence impressions of others when inferred traits are about character (e.g.,
honesty) rather than appearance (e.g., beauty) This is especially the case when impressions are being
made from relatively ambiguous information.

-Embodied perception
● Current mood is one aspect of our temporary state that can influence how we perceive other people.
More and more, social psychologists are finding that human thought is ‘embodied’ – that the way we
view ourselves and others is influenced by the physical position, orientation, sensations and
movements of our bodies

-Social priming
priming; that is, the tendency for frequently or recently used concepts to come to mind easily and
influence the way we interpret new information.

Target characteristics
The valence of a trait (i.e., whether it is considered good or bad) also affects its impact on our final
impressions. Over the years, research has shown that people exhibit a trait negativity bias – the tendency for
negative information to weigh more heavily on our impressions than positive information. This means that we
form more extreme impressions of a person who is said to be dishonest than of one who is said to be honest.
When you think about it, this makes sense. We tend to view others favorably, so we are quick to take notice
and pay careful attention when this expectation is violated.

Context characteristics- The impact of trait information on our impressions of other people depends not only on
characteristics of the perceiver and target but on context as well.
Implicit personality theories- Whether we realise it or not, each of us harbours an implicit personality theory – a
network of assumptions
about the relationships among various types of people, traits and behaviours.
central traits- meaning that they imply the presence of certain other traits and exert a powerful influence on
final impressions.
Warmth and competence -More recent research has since confirmed this basic point that people differentiate
each other first in terms of warmth (warm is seen in such traits as friendly, helpful and sincere), and second in
terms of their competence (competent is seen in such traits as smart, skilful and determined). According to
Susan Fiske and colleagues (2007), warmth and competence are ‘universal dimensions of social cognition’.
Inferring moral character- In addition to focusing on warmth and competence, social perceivers all over the
world also form strong impressions of how moral people are. When you think about it, accurate perceptions of
moral character are essential for social living so that we can identify whether someone we meet, and may need
to rely on in the future, is moral and good, and therefore can be trusted.
The primacy effect -The tendency for information presented early in a sequence to have more impact on
impressions than information presented later.

Mechanisms of the primacy effect

What accounts for the primacy effect? There are two basic explanations. The first is that once perceivers think
they have formed an accurate impression of someone, they tend to pay less attention to subsequent
information.
Thus, when research participants read a series of statements about a person, the amount of time they spent
reading each of the items declined steadily with each succeeding statement
Need for closure
The desire to reduce cognitive uncertainty, which heightens the importance of first impressions.
-People who are low in this regard are open-minded, deliberate and perhaps even reluctant to draw firm
conclusions about others. By contrast, those who are high in the need for closure tend to be impulsive and
impatient and tend to form quick and lasting judgements of others.

More unsettling is the second reason for primacy, known as the change-of-meaning hypothesis.
Once people have formed an impression, they start to interpret inconsistent information in light of that
impression.

CONFIRMATION BIASES: FROM IMPRESSIONS TO REALITY

It is striking but often true that once people make up their minds about something, even if they have
incomplete information, they become more and more unlikely to change their minds when confronted with
new evidence.
Confirmation bias- The tendency to seek, interpret and create information that verifies existing beliefs.

*Mixed evidence is confirmatory evidence

-parang sa research, pag ang result ng isa ay katulad ng isa, may nacoconfirm or nacoconclude
* Contrary evidence is dismissed evidence
Belief perseverance
The tendency to maintain beliefs even after they have been discredited.

Confirmatory hypothesis testing

Social perceivers are not passive recipients of information. Like detectives, we ask questions and actively
search for clues.
Consequences of confirmation biases
Sadly, the fact that people can be blinded by their existing beliefs is a pervasive phenomenon with
consequences.
Even when we form a negative first impression on the basis of all available evidence, and even when we
interpret that evidence accurately, our impression may be misleading. The reason is biased experience
sampling. Meet someone who seems likeable and you may interact with that person again. Then if he or she
turns out to be twisted, dishonest or self-centred, you will be in a position to observe these traits and revise
your impression. But if you meet someone you do not like, you will try to avoid that person in the future, cutting
yourself off from new information and limiting the opportunity to revise your opinion. Attraction breeds
interaction, which is why our negative first impressions in particular tend to persist.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
The process by which an individual’s expectations about a person eventually lead that person to behave in
ways that confirm those expectations.
perceiver’s expectation can actually lead to its own fulfilment – a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Contrasting views of the self-fulfilling prophecy

The teacher forms an initial impression of students early in the school year. The teacher then alters his or her
behaviour in ways that are consistent with that impression. If initial expectations are high rather than low, the
teacher gives the student more praise, more attention, more challenging homework and better feedback. In
turn, the student adjusts his or her own behaviour. If the signals are positive, the student may become
energised, work hard and succeed. If negative, there may be a loss of interest and self-confidence. The cycle
is thus complete and the expectations are confirmed.

Self-fulfilling processes- The self-fulfilling prophecy is a powerful phenomenon. But how does it work? How do
social perceivers transform their expectations of others into reality? Research indicates that the phenomenon
occurs as a three-step process: (1) a perceiver forms an impression of a target person, which may be
based on interactions with the target or on other information; (2) the perceiver then behaves in a
manner that is consistent with that first impression; and (3) the target person unwittingly adjusts his or
her behaviour to the perceiver’s actions (Jussim, 1986). The net result is behavioural confirmation of the
first impression

SOCIAL PERCEPTION: THE BOTTOM LINE

People observe others carefully and reserve judgement until their analysis of the target person, behaviour and
situation is complete. As suggested by theories of attribution and information integration, the process is
eminently logical. In light of recent research, it is now safe to conclude that both accounts of social perception
are correct. Sometimes our judgements are made instantly; at other times, they are based on a more
painstaking analysis of behaviour. Either way, we often steer our interactions with others along a path that is
narrowed by first impressions, a process that can set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy. The various aspects of
social perception, as described in this chapter, are summarised in Figure 3.23.

Impression inaccuracy and overconfidence

In this chapter alone, we have seen that perceivers typically focus on the wrong cues to judge if
someone is lying, use cognitive heuristics without regard for numerical base rates, overlook the situational
influences on behaviour, disparage victims whose misfortunes threaten their sense of justice, form premature
first impressions, and interpret, seek and create evidence in ways that support these impressions.
To make matters worse, we often have little awareness of our limitations, leading us to feel
overconfident in our judgements.

Getting social perception right

It is true that people fall prey to the biases identified by social psychologists and probably even to some that
have not yet been documented. It is also true that we often get fooled by con artists, misjudge our partners in
marriage and hire the wrong job applicants, and that our biases can have harmful consequences
Despite our imperfections, there are reasons to be guardedly optimistic about our
competence as social perceivers:
• The more experience people have with each other, the more accurate they are.
• People can form more accurate impressions of others when they are motivated by concerns for accuracy and
open-mindedness
•Not everyone suffers from high levels of error and bias. Some people are more accurate than others in their
social perceptions.

To summarise, research on the accuracy of social perceptions offers a valuable lesson. To the extent that we
observe others with whom we have had time to interact, make judgements that are reasonably specific, are
motivated to form an accurate impression and are reasonably well adjusted, the problems that plague us can
be minimised.

SUMMARY SA BOOK
INTEGRATION: FROM DISPOSITIONS TO IMPRESSIONS
INFORMATION INTEGRATION: THE ARITHMETIC
• According to information integration theory, impressions are based on perceiver predispositions and a
weighted average of individual traits rather than summation.
DEVIATIONS FROM THE ARITHMETIC
• Perceivers differ in individuals’ sensitivity to certain traits and in the impressions they form due to stable
perceiver characteristics, priming from recent experiences, implicit personality theories and the primacy effect.

CONFIRMATION BIASES: FROM IMPRESSIONS TO REALITY

• Once an impression is formed, people become less likely to change their minds when confronted with
non-supportive evidence, tending to interpret, seek and create information in ways that confirm existing beliefs.
PERSEVERANCE OF BELIEFS
• First impressions may survive in the face of inconsistent information and are bolstered by ambiguous
evidence.
• The effect of evidence that is later discredited perseveres because people formulate theories to support their
initial beliefs.
CONFIRMATORY HYPOTHESIS TESTING
• Once perceivers have beliefs about someone, they seek further information in ways that confirm those
beliefs.
CONSEQUENCES OF CONFIRMATION BIASES
• People resist changing negative-but-mistaken impressions of others more than positive-but-mistaken
impressions, often by engaging in biased experience sampling.
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
• Self-fulfilling prophecies are the product of a three-step process: (1) a perceiver forms an expectation of a
target person, (2) the perceiver behaves accordingly, and (3) the target adjusts to the perceiver’s actions.
• This self-fulfilling prophecy effect is powerful but limited in important ways.
SOCIAL PERCEPTION: THE BOTTOM LINE
IMPRESSION INACCURACY AND OVERCONFIDENCE
• Sometimes people make snap judgements; at other times, they evaluate others by carefully analysing their
behaviour.
GETTING SOCIAL PERCEPTION RIGHT
• Research suggests that our judgements are often biased and that we are overconfident, yet there are
conditions in which we are competent social perceivers.