2 Perception In Social Psychology Essay

Submitted By Luke-Blair
Words: 4113
Pages: 17
Open Document
Social Perception: How We
Come to Understand Other
People

“Things are seldom as they seem.
Skim milk masquerades as cream.”
– W. S. Gilbert
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Other people are not easy to figure out.
Why are they the way they are?
Why do they do what they do?
We all have a fundamental fascination with explaining other people’s behavior, but all we have to go on is observable behavior:
–
–
–
–
–

What people do
What they say
Facial expressions
Gestures
Tone of voice

We can’t know, truly and completely, who they are and what they mean.
Instead, we rely on our impressions and personal theories, putting them together as well as we can, hoping they will lead to reasonably accurate and useful conclusions.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Social Perception

Social Perception
The study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about other people.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Nonverbal Behavior
• What do we know about people when we first meet them?
• We know what we can see and hear, and even though we know we should not judge a book by its cover, this kind of easily observable information is crucial to our first impression.
• With no words at all, we can communicate volumes.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Nonverbal Behavior
Nonverbal Communication
The way in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without words.
Nonverbal cues include:
• facial expressions
• tone of voice
• gestures

• body position/movement
• the use of touch
• gaze

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Nonverbal Behavior
• We have a special kind of brain cell called mirror neurons.
• These neurons respond when we perform an action and when we see someone else perform the same action.
• Mirror neurons appear to be the basis of our ability to feel empathy.
• For example, when we see someone crying, these mirror neurons fire automatically and involuntarily, just as if we were crying ourselves.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Nonverbal Behavior
Nonverbal cues serve many functions in communication. • You can express “I’m angry” by narrowing your eyes, lowering your eyebrows, and setting your mouth in a thin, straight line.
• You can convey the attitude “I like you” with smiles and extended eye contact.
• And you communicate your personality traits, like being an extrovert, with broad gestures and frequent changes in voice pitch and inflection.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Nonverbal Behavior
Some nonverbal cues actually contradict the spoken words.
• Communicating sarcasm is the classic example of verbal-nonverbal contradiction. • Think about how you’d say “I’m so happy for you” sarcastically.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Facial Expressions of Emotion
Are facial expressions of emotion universal? The answer is yes, for the six major emotional expressions: anger, happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, and sadness.
All humans encode or express these emotions in the same way, and all humans can decode or interpret them with equal accuracy.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Facial Expressions of Emotion
• Paul Ekman and others have conducted numerous studies indicating that the ability to interpret at least the six major emotions is cross-cultural—part of being human and not a product of people’s cultural experience.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Facial Expressions of Emotion
• Other emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride occur later in human development and show less universality.
• These latter emotions are closely tied to social interaction.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Facial Expressions of Emotion
Decoding facial expressions accurately is more complicated than we have indicated, for three reasons. 1.Affect
Show More

Related Documents: 2 Perception In Social Psychology Essay

Consumer Traits And Behaviors Presentation Essay

Consumers LEARNING TEAM B ROBERT ENRIQUEZ , SAMUEL CONTRERAS & DANIELLE HAYNES Agenda 1. Identify three psychological process 2. Identify three social process 3. Explain the importance of understanding the influence of psychological and social processes on marketing communications. 4. Explain the relationship between consumer traits and behavior. 5. Analyze how social and cultural settings influence consumer behavior 6. Examine the reasons why consumers interpret marketing messages differently…

Words 827 - Pages 4

PSYCH620 Team C Outline For Final Project 1 Essay

superiority leaving Muslims as a minority which have led to the separation and challenges for Muslims to face and conquer. II. Social and Multicultural psychology aspects of the news story A. Social psychology aspects 1. Define social psychology? 2. What social psychologist tend to focus on? 3. What affects can social psychology have on individuals? 4. How social psychology aspects affects this…

Words 415 - Pages 2

Essay on Psychology and Advanced Placement Course

Course Syllabus A.P. PSYCHOLOGY 2014-2015 Heather E Scott Course: A.P. Psychology Room: 738 Phone: 751-8230 ext 2165 Email: scotth@manateeschools.net Website: http://www.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage.aspx?id=11166097 What you should know about Psychology and Advanced Placement… Psychology is the scientific study of how people think, act (behave) and feel…

Words 3746 - Pages 15

Questions On Psychology

Psychology UNIT 1 Revision Bible Name_______________________ Chapter 1 Nature of Psychology Check List YES! SORT OF.. NO IDEA! Can you define the difference between behaviour and mental processes? Can you list three differences between psychology and psychiatry? Can you name and briefly describe five areas of specialism in psychology? (e.g. clinical psychology) What is Psychology? Explain behaviourism and who was the founder of this theory?? Can you Explain how psychology rooted…

Words 2898 - Pages 12

Health Belief Model Paper

University of the People PSYC 1111: Introduction to Health Psychology Written assignment unit 2 23rd April 2024. Health-Related Behavior: Drinking Excessively. Due to its many negative impacts on both physical and mental health, excessive drinking is seen. as a health-related habit that should be avoided. We can examine how people's beliefs affect their patterns of alcohol use by examining this behavior through an understanding of the Health Belief. Model (HBM). Health…

Words 628 - Pages 3

Beginning Psychology Essay

1. Define "psychology." - The scientific study of mind and behavior. 2. Explain why using intuition about everyday behavior is insufficient for completely understanding the causes of behavior. - There are a variety of biases that often influence our perceptions and lead us to make the wrong conclusions. 3. What are empirical methods? What is the scientific method? How do the two relate? Empirical method is a way to collect and organize data and draw conclusions, like trial and error. Scientific…

Words 986 - Pages 4

The Diverse Nature of Psychology Essay

The Diverse Nature of Psychology Psychology, though a young field, is a uniquely successful one, flourishing in the twentieth century through intellectual and social expansion (Darity, 2008). From its philosophical roots to its emergence as a scientific discipline, the field of psychology has been concerned with behavior and mental processes. By its very nature, the field is diverse encompassing many subdisciplines and areas. The American Psychological Association recognizes more than 50 different…

Words 938 - Pages 4

Psych Notes Essay

you read 2. Survey titles, headings, etc. before reading 3. Outline the chapter 4. Decide how much you will read 5. As you start look at the heading and decide what it is about 6. Look at the layout for clues (bold) 7. Look for the “big picture” - how does this fit into everything 8. Paraphrase the section, and put notes in the margins 9. Make summary notes 10. Make up test questions Psychology: the scientific study of behaviour and the factors that influence it, psychology is whatever…

Words 1386 - Pages 6

Week 3 Summary Essay

Week 3 Employee Portfolio: Motivation Action Plan (Summary) Instructor Richard Clemens Student Melvin Wright 2/10/2015 Melvin motivational strategy Melvin shouldn’t need much if any motivation at his job from other because his motivation seem to come from within. He is very satisfied and engaged and happy at his job. Melvin is exactly where he wants to be in the company and realizes his impact with the company. Melvin is motivated by the opportunity to create success within his…

Words 588 - Pages 3

Claude Steele And Aronson's Theory Of Stereotypes

Perceptions of race and status can both knowingly and unknowingly act to distort an individual’s judgment and actions. Most often, many individuals interpret these perceptions as reality, failing to recognize the numerous ideological influences which have shaped such beliefs. After all, one generally does not reflect upon their own perceptions to consider what institutional ideologies (education, faith organizations/church, family, government, media, etc.) shape their personal perceptions, and…

Words 699 - Pages 3