Chapter 6 Social Thinking and Influence Mandy Ralph

Forming Impressions of Others

1. Person perception - process of forming impressions of others. Because the process is easy and automatic, people are often unaware that it is even occurring. The five sources of information the are utilized when forming person perceptions are:

A. Appearance - physical features including height, weight, skin and hair color, style of dress, body piercings and tattoos, hygiene, etc...
B. Verbal behavior - self disclosure including how often advice is given or questions asked, and how judgmental one is, use of profanity, etc...
C. Actions - Actions speak louder than words theory, relying on the behavior of individuals to provide insight to how they are as an individual
D. Nonverbal messages - facial expressions, eye contact, body language, and gestures; these nonverbal cues provide insight to an individual's personality, emotional state, and disposition
E. Situations - different settings can help to identify why a person is exhibiting the behavior that they are (ex. being at a wedding vs a funeral, it would be hard to identify whether a person is crying due to sadness or joy)


2. Attributions - Inferences that people draw about the causes of their own behavior, others' behavior, and events.

Internal - an individual attributes the behavior of someone to their personal disposition, traits, abilities, or feelings
External - an individual attributes the behavior of someone to a change in the environment or situations

People are most likely to make attributions when others behave in unexpected or negative ways, events are personally relevant, or they are suspicious of another's motives. Although the attribution process sounds logical, the process of person perception is often illogical because all that is utilized is a person's behavior and how it is perceived.

3. Perceiver Expectations

Confirmation bias - the idea that if an individual already has a perception of a person, they will ask questions and look for information that supports what they believe to be true, rather than looking for information to disprove it

Can occur in brief social interactions, job interviews, courtrooms during a trial, or related to the behavior of an entire group (ex. when expecting a certain behavior from a woman vs. a man).

Self-fulfilling prophecies - the perceived behavior of a person causes that person to behave differently than they normally would confirming the expectations

Steps to self fulfilling prophecy -

1. Perceiver forms an impression of another person Leads to
2. Perceiver's behavior based on the impression that they have formed Produces
3. The other person acts in a way that confirms the initial impression

4. Cognitive Distortions - error in person perceptions that occurs as a result of distortion in the mind of the perceiver due to distraction, feeling rushed, or lacking the motivation to pay close attention to the other person.

Social categorization - the idea that people are categorized according to race, religion, gender, social class, nationaltity, age, etc... An "ingroup" would include members who are similar to an individual, and an "outgroup" (them) would include members who are different.

Stereotyping - all members of the same group hold certain characteristics common to that group

Most common stereotypes in America involve gender, age, and ethnicity. Physical appearance can lead to stereotyping as well. The attractiveness stereotype indicates that attractive people have a social advantage over unattractive individuals. Stereotypes persist partly because of confirmation bias and self-fulfilling prophecy explained above.

Fundamental Attribution Error - the tendency to explain a person's behavior as a result of personal, not situational, factors; different from stereotyping because it is based on actual behavior

First step of attribution process is spontaneous, while the second step involves cognitive effort and attention. If the second step is not achieved, a fundamental attribution error occurs. When an individual is motivated to form an accurate impression of another person, they are more likely to achieve step 2 and form an accurate attribution.

The Problem of Prejudice - Prejudice vs Discrimination

5. Prejudice
Prejudice - negative attitudes towards members of a certain group

Common causes of prejudice include right wing authoritarianism, cognitive distortions, competition between groups, and threats to social identity. In order to reduce prejudice, cognitive strategies such as identifying the negative feelings that you experience toward a group and preventing these thoughts from contributing to the person perception formed, can reduce prejudice in the future. Intergroup contact where members of the normally seperate groups mutually work together toward a common goal can help to ease prejudice beliefs.

6. Discrimination
Discrimination - involves acting differently, usually unfairly, towards members of a certain group; Blatant discrimination has declined, while modern discrimination is on the rise

Modern discrimination - different from "old fashioned discrimination" in that people privately hold feelings of negativity toward other races or sexes only expressing themselves when they feel that their views are supported and justified with no ill reprocussions.

7. The Power of Persuasion - the attempt to change a person's attitude by communicating arguments and information

A source of persuasion who is reputable, trustworthy, likable, physically attractive, and similar to the receiver is often highly successful. Effective elements of successful persuasion are a two sided argument, arousal of fear, and generation of positive feelings. If the receiver holds firm and different beliefs, or is forewarned of the intent of the source of persuasion, it is often ineffective.

Two processes of persuasion:
1. Central route - the receiver is likely to process persuasive messages carefully which results in a positive attitude adjustment
2. Peripheral route - the person is unable to process the persuasive messages and it is ineffective

8. The Power of Social Pressure - the attempt to change the behaviors of an individual by putting pressure on them to act similarly to another individual or group

Conformity - the yielding of people to real or imagined social pressure
Compliance - people yield to social pressure when in public, but still hold their own private beliefs

Normative influence - people adhere to social norms for fear of negative social consequences; compliance may also occur due to rules, requests, and commands
Informational influence - people look to others to determine how they will behave in a variety of situations/circumstances

Pressure from Authority Figures
Obedience is a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands from a person of authority in society

9. Compliance Tactics

Consistency Principle - once someone agrees with something, they are likely to stick with it
Foot in the Door Technique - involves getting people to agree to a small request so that they are more likely to agree to a larger request later

Lowball Technique - involves getting people to commit to an attractive proposition before revealing it's hidden less attractive components

Reciprocity Principle - the rule that one should pay back in kind what is given to them from others
Door in the Face Technique - involves getting people to reject a larger request so that they are more likely to agree to a smaller request

10. The Scarcity Principle - frequently used to make individuals believe that they are getting something that is scarce and hard to come by
Derived from two sources -
1. Items that are harder to comeby or require more work to obtain are generally of better quality that those that are easy to get
2. Reactance - When something is hard to get, people tend to want it even more

This principle is often utilized by companies to increase the demand for their products or services. Terms often associated with this principle are "for a limited time only" "time is running out" "vintage"