Social Perception Processes

1. Social Perception Processes Social Perception - includes attribution, social cognition, and impression formation process of understanding social events and social objects, - give meaning to events processing information about these events and objects – find organization choosing responses/reactions to them – strategy for using information efficiently prediction about future behaviors/reactions – anticipate and control Goals: understand and react appropriately, and predict accurately – -- to be a Successful Social Being

2. Social Perception Processes Process Varies with Experience – working toward increased efficiency/effectiveness want to be right, but often need to be fast/efficient Initially – the ‘naïve’ perceiver know “nothing” except what built in – which is what? must identify variables, relationships, and learn strategies for extracting meaning use self, and how self is shaped by those around as initial guide must attend carefully to new experiences in order to learn (THOUGHTFUL PROCESSOR)

3. Social Perception Processes Imagine you are a ‘naïve’ social perceiver – I approach you and pat your head What do you want to know? what was it, what does it mean, why did I do it, how do you feel about it what should you do, what do you think of me, will I do it again, what else might I do, How much of this is available in what you see?

4. Social Perception Processes Over time you become – the ‘experienced/sophisticated’ perceiver What if I approach you and pat you on the head? Experience provides understanding about, expectations – strategies – structure – you develop into a skillful, efficient, inference maker – process can become more “automatic/unconscious” You become (or at least have the potential to be) the THOUGHTLESS PROCESSOR

5. Social Perception Processes – General Model Filling in the gaps based on a variety of individual difference tendencies and experiences Can also depend on situational constraints and interest in understanding Effort expended can vary Distal Stimuli “Reality” Elaboration – perception with ‘meaning’ and ‘motives’, etc. What you believe you saw Perception Construction Process Information Processed Proximal Stimuli Mediation Selectively attend to information that is ‘salient’ Some information is lost due to lack of access or filtering through others Information reaching Sensory Receptors and Brain Regions Appearance Behavior Context Decide on reaction/response based on understanding Could be an observed event, or an event communicated to us through some other indirect source Integration with prior experiences Will each new experience lead to further reorganization? Organize/Categorize Interpret Prepare to be more efficient next time

6. Social Perception Processes Issues to Consider Consistencies in the process – Changes in process as we become more experienced – Group/Individual Differences – Biases or Errors – Overall Experience –

7. Social Perception Processes To Fully Understand Others and Social Contexts, must process information Recognizing Transient States AND Identifying Stable Qualities Recognizing Transient States Facial Expressions as windows to emotions Do emotions lead to consistent facial expressions? Are facial expressions of emotions correctly recognized? Six ‘universal’ facial expressions happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness Why are we not always accurate in everyday interactions? The emotion-expression loop

8. Social Perception Processes Identifying Stable Qualities – evaluating the individual behavior Heider’s (1958) Model and Jones and Davis (1965) Correspondent Inference model Assumes a logical thoughtful perceiver trying to interpret a single event and decide what it reveals about the ‘actor’ (like a legal judgment) To what degree does the behavior allow for a ‘correspondent inference’ Level of Responsibility - learn more as PERCEIVED PERSONAL responsibility increases Association Causality Foreseeability Intentionality Justifiability Naïve perceiver may have more difficulty separating/appreciating these levels

9. The Correspondent Inference Model (Jones & Davis) Context Quality Effect Knowledge Quality Effect Intention Can Behavior Effect Quality Ability Effect Quality Behaviors that are assumed to have been rejected provide clues about effects intended

10. Correspondent Inference Overview Basic Idea – what information gain can I get from this behavior? Effects produced by Intentional acts will provide greatest potential gain, but less so if Justifiable (response to external factors) Behaviors reflect CHOICES among alternative forms (often assumed) Behavior produces multiple effects Which effects carry ‘meaning’? Which was the intended effect, if any? Label for intended effect applies to the person Discounting - Augmentation - Social Perception Processes

11. Social Perception Processes Identifying Stable Qualities – accumulating information across behaviors Causal Attribution Model - Kelley (1967) Covariation Model - naïve scientist approach accumulating information and finding the patterns Causes Lie within the Social Environment Low High Person’s (Actors) Consensus Entities (Objects) Distinctiveness Context (Time/Place) Consistency Main effects – when/if the data are clear ACTOR - Low Low High OBJECT - High High High Interactions ACTOR x OBJECT – Low High High When do you have enough “evidence”? Once causal locus is determined, still must ‘label’ based on effects like in Correspondent Inference Model

12. Social Perception Processes Goal - to become so good at the process that it takes less time and effort but you make few mistakes! Process of improving efficiency should operate at Individual level, and evolutionary level examples Social Cognition Processes Create organized body of knowledge about people objects situations relationships among qualities Allow us to anticipate and skip thoughtful processing

13. Social Perception Processes – General Model Distal Stimuli “Reality” Elaboration – perception with ‘meaning’ and ‘motives’, etc. Perception Construction Process Information Processed Proximal Stimuli Mediation Bypass Appearance Behavior Context Decide on reaction/response based on understanding Based on salient cues, activate schema to be able to leap to the end – understand OR respond with less effort Integration with prior experiences Will each new experience lead to further reorganization? Organize/Categorize Interpret Prepare to be more efficient next time

14. Begin as DATA DRIVEN processors.....move to THEORY DRIVEN bottom up top down (THOUGHFUL) (THOUGHTLESS) We become COGNITIVE MISERS - must be able to minimize effort in processing new experiences Rely on the ‘patterns’ that appear to us (Schemas about objects, roles, events, etc.) - As we become ‘experienced’ we must be motivated to engage in effortful processing when unexpected encountered - when unpleasant experience – when important decision called for - Social Perception Processes

15. Social Perception Processes How do Schemas operate? Conscious – initiate intentionally, “act serious”, “drive to X” Unconscious – element in environment activates schema automatically Representativeness, Availability Cognitive Processes Influenced Attention - Interpretation – Judgment – Memory – Well Developed and Accessible Schemas influence each of the Core Processes

16. Social Perception Processes Schemas and Emotional Reactions How you feel about an experience may depend on the schemas that are salient Counterfactual Thinking – comparing an actual experience to an experience that might have been – an available salient schema Research on reactions of Olympic athletes Upward comparison – could have been better – Downward comparison – could have been worse –

17. Social Perception Processes – General Model In the end, we will move between thoughtful processing and thoughtless processing, depending on the situation and circumstances. But, as sophisticated perceivers, we do react quickly, but we can then engage thoughtful reexamination. Distal Stimuli “Reality” Elaboration – perception with ‘meaning’ and ‘motives’, etc. Perception Construction Process Information Processed Proximal Stimuli Mediation Reconsider Bypass Appearance Behavior Context Decide on reaction/response based on understanding Use the bypass – but then go back to verify interpretation Integration with prior experiences Will each new experience lead to further reorganization? Organize/Categorize Interpret Prepare to be more efficient next time

18. Social Perception Processes Group and Individual Differences Individual differences in ‘cognitive styles’ Cognitive Needs/Strategies Implicit Person Models Cultural differences in fundamental assumptions/processes East – West Culture Differences Regional Differences in USA

19. Social Perception Processes Group and Individual Differences Cultural differences in fundamental assumptions/processes (West vs. East) Nisbett, 2003 Differences found EAST WEST Perception see things in context attend to salient objects Organize relationships object categories Explanations context modifies behavior dispositions guide behaviors Control collective action believe in personal control Individual goals merge with group stand out in group

20. Social Perception Processes Biases or Errors - common misuses or misinterpretations of information Correspondence Bias - Fundamental Attribution Error Actor/Observer Bias False Consensus Self Serving Bias Planning Fallacy Self-centered Bias

21. Social Perception Processes Overall Experience – We do get data that ‘works’ – Expand our understanding over time (Welbourne, 2001) impressions over time show more ‘inconsistencies’ also, can ‘explain’ the inconsistencies - greatest if contextual diversity Pragmatic accuracy (Gill & Swann, 2004) consensus within relationship context better at ‘knowing’ what is needed

22. Social Perception Processes Self Perception (Bem) – Observing your own behavior to understand yourself When internal cues are weak or ambiguous, we may perceive ourselves as if we were outside observers External cues can override internal information Other’s behaviors can alter our interpretations of our own behaviors Making your own behavior ‘salient’ as a cue