Social Perception & Attributions

Social psychologists study how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

• Social schemas Social schemas mental representations mental representations that influence how we perceive others that influence how we perceive others – Influence how we process & interpret infoInfluence how we process & interpret info– Influence what we remember because we attend Influence what we remember because we attend

to things that are consistent with our schemasto things that are consistent with our schemas– Can lead to errors in judging othersCan lead to errors in judging others

Social Perception

Attribution Theory• Internal (dispositional) attribution Internal (dispositional) attribution assume assume

person’s behavior is determined by personal person’s behavior is determined by personal traits traits

• External (situational) attribution External (situational) attribution assume assume person’s behavior is due to external person’s behavior is due to external circumstancescircumstances

How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it

Negative behavior

Situational attribution“Maybe that driver is ill.”

Dispositional attribution“Crazy driver!”

Tolerant reaction(proceed cautiously, allowdriver a wide berth)

Unfavorable reaction(speed up and race past theother driver, give a dirty look)

Factors That Determine Attribution• Consensus Consensus Are other people's behavior similar to Are other people's behavior similar to

that person’s behavior in the situation? that person’s behavior in the situation?

• Consistency Consistency does the person act the same way does the person act the same way frequently or in most cases? frequently or in most cases?

• Distinctiveness Distinctiveness does person respond differently in does person respond differently in other situations? Or just this specific situation?other situations? Or just this specific situation?

Dispositional Situational

Consensus (general

agreement)

Low consensus – few people act this way(i.e. few people think the soup is bad & complained)

High consensus – many people act this way(i.e. many people agree that the soup is bad & complained)

Soup Story….Bad Soup or Crabby Customer?

Dispositional Situational

Consistency

High consistency – person acts this way frequently(i.e. customer always complains about food)

Low consistency – person rarely acts this way(i.e. customer rarely complains about food)

Soup Story….Bad Soup or Crabby Customer?

Dispositional Situational

Distinctiveness of Situation

Low Distinctiveness - person behaves same way in other situations(i.e. customer complains at all restaurants or about all food)

High Distinctiveness – person does not behave this way in other situations(i.e. customer never complains @ other places or about other food)

Soup Story….Bad Soup or Crabby Customer?

• Fundamental Attribution Error Fundamental Attribution Error overestimating internal overestimating internal (dispositional) attributions to others (dispositional) attributions to others and underestimating external and underestimating external (situational) attributions(situational) attributions

• Actor-observer effect Actor-observer effect attributing our attributing our own behavior to external (situational) own behavior to external (situational) causes & behavior of others to internal causes & behavior of others to internal (dispositional) causes(dispositional) causes– “ “ I was unprepared for the I was unprepared for the

exam because there was a exam because there was a family emergency last night, family emergency last night, but Sally was unprepared but Sally was unprepared because she’s basically not because she’s basically not good at math.”good at math.”

• Self-serving bias Self-serving bias tendency to tendency to attribute success to internal attribute success to internal (dispositional) factors, but (dispositional) factors, but failures to external (situational) failures to external (situational) factorsfactors– ““I won the game todayI won the game today

because because I am a great athlete.”I am a great athlete.”

– ““I lost the game because I lost the game because the referee made bad calls.”the referee made bad calls.”

• False consensus effect False consensus effect tendency to tendency to think other people share our attitudes think other people share our attitudes more than they actually domore than they actually do– ““I really like this one television show, so I I really like this one television show, so I

assume most of my peers like it as well.”assume most of my peers like it as well.”

Social Perception• Self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our

expectations cause us to unknowingly act in a way that elicits the behaviors that confirm our expectations

Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968)• Teachers told that certain elementary school

students would bloom (rapid academic growth)

• Randomly chosen bloomers showed significantly greater gains in IQ than control-group classmates

• Teacher expectancies about children influenced student performance

The student who believes that he/she cannot pass a test will not study as hard as needed, thereby confirming that he/she was “right”

• Just world hypothesis Just world hypothesis tendency to tendency to believe that good people are rewarded, believe that good people are rewarded, bad people are punishedbad people are punished

• False consensus effect False consensus effect tendency to tendency to think other people share our attitudes think other people share our attitudes more than they actually domore than they actually do– ““I really like this one television show, so I I really like this one television show, so I

assume most of my peers like it as well.”assume most of my peers like it as well.”

• Representative heuristic Representative heuristic tendency to tendency to make judgments about a person according make judgments about a person according to the group they appear to representto the group they appear to represent– If you see someone wearing athletic If you see someone wearing athletic

apparel, you assume that they are apparel, you assume that they are in the “jock” groupin the “jock” group

– If you see someone wearing a If you see someone wearing a white lab coat, you assume that white lab coat, you assume that they work in a lab or hospitalthey work in a lab or hospital•What about the make-up counter at a What about the make-up counter at a

department store?department store?

• Availability heuristic Availability heuristic tendency to judge tendency to judge probability of an event’s occurring based on probability of an event’s occurring based on how readily examples come to mindhow readily examples come to mind– After 9/11, many people were afraid to fly, After 9/11, many people were afraid to fly,

yet the increased security at airports made it yet the increased security at airports made it safe to fly safe to fly

– Swine fluSwine flu• Hindsight bias Hindsight bias tendency tendency

to overestimate how to overestimate how predictable an event was predictable an event was once the outcome is knownonce the outcome is known““I knew it all along!”I knew it all along!”

Availability HeuristicAvailability Heuristic• A person claims to a group of friends that A person claims to a group of friends that

drivers of red cars get more speeding tickets. drivers of red cars get more speeding tickets. The group agrees with the statement because a The group agrees with the statement because a member of the group, "Jim," drives a red car member of the group, "Jim," drives a red car and frequently gets speeding tickets. The reality and frequently gets speeding tickets. The reality could be that Jim just drives fast and would get could be that Jim just drives fast and would get a speeding ticket regardless of the color car a speeding ticket regardless of the color car that he drove. Even if statistics show fewer that he drove. Even if statistics show fewer speeding tickets were given to red cars than to speeding tickets were given to red cars than to other colors of cars, Jim is an available example other colors of cars, Jim is an available example which makes the statement seem more which makes the statement seem more plausible. plausible.

Hindsight Bias• For instance, suppose a person was For instance, suppose a person was

asked to estimate how many votes asked to estimate how many votes John McCain would get in the John McCain would get in the Michigan primaries. If before the Michigan primaries. If before the election, he estimated 30%, and then election, he estimated 30%, and then learned that the actual figure was learned that the actual figure was 50%, he may later recall that his 50%, he may later recall that his answer was 40%. answer was 40%.

• Gambler’s fallacy Gambler’s fallacy people believe people believe that future events are influenced by that future events are influenced by past occurrencespast occurrences– Individuals who have lost many times Individuals who have lost many times

while gambling assume that they “must while gambling assume that they “must win” the next timewin” the next time