Social Psychology / Chapter 4
Perceiving Persons
Social Perception
Social Perception: the process by which people come to understand one another
Chapter Overview:
The “raw data” of social perception
How we explain and analyze behavior
How we integrate our observations into coherent impressions of other persons
How our impressions can subtly create a distorted picture of reality
We’re both perceiver and target
Observation: The Elements of Social Perception
Impression Formation: Judging a Book by its Cover
True or False?: The impressions we form of others are influenced by superficial aspects of
their appearance
First impressions are often subtly influenced by different aspects of a person’s appearance
On what basis do you form impressions of others?
Appearance including height, weight, attractiveness, hair, clothing, also gender, race, social
attributes, behavior, expressions, body posture
How long does it take you to form an impression of someone?
In most cases, it’s instantaneous
First Impressions in a Fraction of a Second
T
Perceptions of ‘Baby Faced’ People
We judge ‘baby-faced’ adults differently than “mature-faced” adults
Round face, large round eyes, high eyebrows, large forehead, smooth skin, rounded chin
Seen as warm, kind, naïve, weak, honest, submissive
Three possible explanations:
Humans are genetically programmed to respond gently to infantile features
We learn to associate infantile features with helplessness and then generalize this
expectation to baby-faced adults
fMRI research: frontal brain regions associated with love are activated when shown images
of babies [even briefly]
Same when exposed to photos of baby-faced adult men
, Facial Perception Alexander Todorov et al [2008]
When making snap judgments, we categorize as trustworthy vs. untrustworthy based on
features that resemble happiness or anger
The Silent Language ofNonverbal Behavior
Behavioral cues are used to identify a person’s inner states [as well as his or her actions]
Sometimes tricky as people often try to hide their inner states and emotions
What kinds of nonverbal cues do people use?
Research focas: facial expressions of emotion
Research generally indicates 6 ‘universal’ emotional facial expressions
Original Research Photos / Paul Ekman
Six ‘Universal’ Emotions
Happy, sad, anger, fear, surprise, disgust
Paul Ekman [1987] high agreement: Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan,
Scotland, Sumatra, Turkey, United States
Hillary Elfenbein & Nalini Ambady [2002]
Meta-analysis of 97 studies, 22,148 social perceivers, 48 different countries
People do generally recognize universal emotions
But they also recognize expressions from their own countries / cultures most accurately
Hillary Elfenbein & Nalini Ambady [2002]
Perceiving Persons
Social Perception
Social Perception: the process by which people come to understand one another
Chapter Overview:
The “raw data” of social perception
How we explain and analyze behavior
How we integrate our observations into coherent impressions of other persons
How our impressions can subtly create a distorted picture of reality
We’re both perceiver and target
Observation: The Elements of Social Perception
Impression Formation: Judging a Book by its Cover
True or False?: The impressions we form of others are influenced by superficial aspects of
their appearance
First impressions are often subtly influenced by different aspects of a person’s appearance
On what basis do you form impressions of others?
Appearance including height, weight, attractiveness, hair, clothing, also gender, race, social
attributes, behavior, expressions, body posture
How long does it take you to form an impression of someone?
In most cases, it’s instantaneous
First Impressions in a Fraction of a Second
T
Perceptions of ‘Baby Faced’ People
We judge ‘baby-faced’ adults differently than “mature-faced” adults
Round face, large round eyes, high eyebrows, large forehead, smooth skin, rounded chin
Seen as warm, kind, naïve, weak, honest, submissive
Three possible explanations:
Humans are genetically programmed to respond gently to infantile features
We learn to associate infantile features with helplessness and then generalize this
expectation to baby-faced adults
fMRI research: frontal brain regions associated with love are activated when shown images
of babies [even briefly]
Same when exposed to photos of baby-faced adult men
, Facial Perception Alexander Todorov et al [2008]
When making snap judgments, we categorize as trustworthy vs. untrustworthy based on
features that resemble happiness or anger
The Silent Language ofNonverbal Behavior
Behavioral cues are used to identify a person’s inner states [as well as his or her actions]
Sometimes tricky as people often try to hide their inner states and emotions
What kinds of nonverbal cues do people use?
Research focas: facial expressions of emotion
Research generally indicates 6 ‘universal’ emotional facial expressions
Original Research Photos / Paul Ekman
Six ‘Universal’ Emotions
Happy, sad, anger, fear, surprise, disgust
Paul Ekman [1987] high agreement: Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan,
Scotland, Sumatra, Turkey, United States
Hillary Elfenbein & Nalini Ambady [2002]
Meta-analysis of 97 studies, 22,148 social perceivers, 48 different countries
People do generally recognize universal emotions
But they also recognize expressions from their own countries / cultures most accurately
Hillary Elfenbein & Nalini Ambady [2002]
