SELF-PRESENTATION AND PERSON PERCEPTION

Self-presenters – we often consciously try to shape other's impressions & we

may sometimes rely on deception to achieve this end

Person Perception- the process by which we come to know about other people's
temporary states and enduring dispositions

2 processes:
a. Impression Formation – often based on rapid assessments of salient and
observable qualities and behaviors in others
Ex. Facial expressions, body posture
b. Attribution – attempts to use past actions to predict future behavior

SOCIAL INTERACTION AS “THEATER”

− according to Erving Goffman (1959), social interaction is like a theatrical
performance, with the interactants being the actors on stage playing
prescribed roles

Self-Presentations Are Either Consciously or Automatically Constructed

and Monitored

Strategic Self-Presentation – the process of constructing and presenting the

self in order to shape other people's impressions and achieve ulterior goals

Impression Management – we often rehearse prior to the performance; very

stressful
− the more skilled we become in particular self-
presentations, the less effort is necessary in executing them. Well-learned self-
presentations are often automatically activated and guided without conscious
monitoring. Such automatic self-presentations are efficient because they conserve
cognitive resources that can be devoted to other tasks.
Dual-Process – Human beings employ two broad cognitive strategies to interact
in their social world, one involving effortless thinking and the other involving
effortful thinking.

SELF-PRESENTATIONS STRATEGIES
SELF-PROMOTION – strives to convey positive information about the self either
through one's behavior or by telling others about one's positive assets and
accomplishments. People who use self-promotion want to be respected for their
intelligence and competence and thus, this strategy is commonly employed
during job interviews.
− Self-promoters may be judged to be less
likable because they are perceived to be bragging. Boasting is
considered to be a more masculine response following
achievement. Thus, men are more likely than women to employ self
promotion.
EXEMPLIFICATION – self-presentation designed to elicit perceptions of integrity
and moral worthiness at the same time that it arouses guilt and emulation in
others. Leaders who can effectively employ exemplification foster strong loyalty
and group cohesion among their followers.

MODESTY – underrespresent one's positive traits, contributions, or

accomplishments. Modesty can be extremely effective in increasing one's
likability, even while it preserves high levels of perceived competence and
honesty. Modesty is considered a more feminine response following achievement.
Thus, women are not only more likely than men to employ it, but they also are
successful in using it.

INTIMIDATION – a self-presentation tactic of arousing fear and gaining power by

convincing others that they are powerful and/or dangerous.

SUPPICATION – people advise their weaknesses or their dependence on others,

hoping to solicit help or sympathy out of a sense of social obligation.

SANDBAGGING – people falsely claim or demonstrate to onlookers that they

have poorer skills or abilities than they actually possess.

INGRATIATION – used to describe behaviors that are motivated by a desire to be

liked

Embarrassment and Excuse Making Commonly Follow Failed Self-

Presentations

Embarrassment – an unpleasant emotion experienced when we believe that

others have good reason to think a flaw has been revealed in us. This is
accompanied by an activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Self- Handicapping - a self-presentation strategy in which a person creates

obstacles to his or her own performance either to provide an excuse for failure or
to enhance success.
− more likely to occur when people are being evaluated on skills
or attributes central to their self-concepts.
− Diane Tice (1991) indicates that it depends on a person's level
of self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem handicap
themselves to enhance their success, and they are largely
unconcerned about protecting themselves against failure. In
contrast, low self-esteem persons self-handicap to protect
themselves from the negative implications of failure.
Self-reported handicapping – provides an excuse for failure without actually
hampering performance. Behavioral self-handicapping – involves people
handicapping themselves either by not adequately preparing for a task or by
using drugs or alcohol beforehand to inhibit their performance

Men are more likely to behaviorally self-handicap, especially when they are
publicly self-aware.

Self-Monitoring – the tendency to use cues from other people's self-

presentations on controlling one's own self-presentations.
− Individuals who are high in self-monitoring are especially attuned
to social cues concerning appropriate behavior in a given situation.
− Those high in self-monitoring are more socially skilled than those
low in self-monitoring.
− People high in self-monitoring have less intimate and committed
social relationships and they tend to judge people more on
superficial characteristics, such as physical appearance and social
activities, rather than their attitudes and values.
− HIGH self-monitoring but NOT HIGH public self-consciousness:
Individuals who are actively and effectively changing their behavior
to adjust to the reactions and expectations of others.

IMPRESSION FORMATION – the process by which one integrates various sources

of information about another into an overall judgment.

Our Impressions of Others Are Shaped by Their Nonverbal Behavior

Nonverbal Communication – the sending and receiving of information using

gestures, expressions, vocal cues, and body movements rather than words.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Primary emotions : anger, disgust, fear, happiness, surprise, contempt, and
sadness
Basic : shame and guilt
Charles Darwin : He believed that this ability to recognize emotion from the
observation of facial expression was genetically programmed into our species and
had survival value for us.
“Survival value” Hypothesis – we are sensitive to facial expressions that signal
potential danger; those that would give us the best chances of survival

BODY MOVEMENTS
Handshakes – important component in impression formation and may actually
reveal something about people's personalities.
− People with firm handshakes tend to be more extraverted,
adventurous, and less neurotic and shy than those with weak
handshakes.
− People who walk with a good deal of hip sway, knee bending, loose
jointedness, and body bounce are perceived to be younger and more
powerful than those who walk with less pronounced gaits.
− Based on an analysis of classical ballet dance movement and people's
judgments of geometric shapes, Aronoff and his colleagues (1992)
contend that rounded body postures convey warmth and friendliness
to an observer, while diagonal and angled body postures imply threat
 and danger.

NONCONSCIOUS MIMICRY
− the tendency to adopt the behaviors, postures, or mannerisms of
interaction partners without conscious awareness or intention.
− Biological basis : Mirror neurons (specialized neural circuits located in
the premotor cortex) serve as the basis of imitation learning
− Chartrand and Bargh (1999) found evidence that mimicry increases
liking for the imitator.
− Mimicry not only increases their prosocial behavior toward one
another, but the latest findings suggest that the targets of mimickers
also become more prosocial to others in the immediate vicinity.
− Evolutionary basis : Individuals who were able to cooperate with
others and maintain harmonious social ties were more likely to be
included in group activities, thereby giving them an adaptive
advantage over those who were ostracized from the group. (Fostered
Group Cohesion)

Culture and Personality Influence the Expression and Use of Nonverbal

Cues

INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM

− Collectivists are much more likely than individualists to monitor their
behavior so that it does not disrupt the smooth functioning of the
group.
− Collectivists are much more uncomfortable about publicly expressing
negative emotions.
GENDER SOCIALIZATION
Social Role – a cluster of socially defined expectations that individuals in a given
situation are expected to fulfill
a. defined by society
b. applied to all individuals in a particular social category
c. consist of well-learned responses by individuals
Social Role Theory – a theory that explains gender differences as being due to
the different social roles occupied by women and men in society
Emotional Styles:
• Extravagant expressiveness – an open style of experiencing and
communicating emotion that is associated with femininity.
• Manly emotion – intense emotion under control (Control is associated with
power & dominance)
− Boys are encouraged to express emotions – such as anger, contempt & pride
− Girls are encouraged to express emotions – happiness, fear & empathy
− Women are not only better nonverbal communicators of happiness than men,
but they are also better at masking disappointment with a positive expression.
− Meta-analytic studies indicate that females are significantly more adept than
males in decoding nonverbal communication.
− Females are better able to understand people's feelings and thus increase their
 interpersonal comfort. According to social role theory, because the social roles
played by women tend to have lower status relative to male roles, they are
less powerful and more sensitive to the feelings of their superiors than vice
versa.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN MONITORING NONVERBAL CUES

− People high in self-monitoring are not only more attentive to their
nonverbal behavior in social settings, but they are also better able to modify or
suppress nonverbal gestures that might be considered socially inappropriate.

We Form Personality Impressions with the Help of Traits

Central traits – traits that exert a disproportionate influence on people's overall

impressions, causing them to assume the presence of other traits.
Peripheral traits – less important traits

Implicit Personality Theory – assumptions or naive belief systems people

make about which personality traits and behaviors go together.
• Evaluative consistency – a tendency to view others in a way that is
internally consistent

Our Personality Judgments Are Most Influenced By Negative and Early-Presented Information

Positivity Bias – the tendency for people to evaluate individual human beings
more positively than groups of impersonal objects.

Negativity Effect – the tendency for negative traits to be weighted more heavily
than positive traits in impression formation.

Primacy Effect – the tendency for the first information received to carry more
weight than later information on one's overall impression.

Recency Effect – the tendency for the last information received to carry greater
weight than earlier information.

We Rely upon Particular Information When Explaining People's Actions

Attribution – the process by which people use information to make inferences

about the causes of behavior or events.
LOCUS OF CAUSALITY
Internal Attribution – (person attribution) an attribution that locates the cause
of an event to factors internal to the person, such as personality traits, moods,
attitudes, abilities, or effort.

External Attribution – an attribution that locates the cause of an event to

factors external to the person, such as luck, or other people, or the situation.

STABILITY AND CONTROLLABILITY OF CAUSALITY

Stable – causes are permanent and lasting
Unstable – causes are temporary and fluctuating

Possible Causes of Academic Achievement Due to Locus, Stability, and

Controllability
Internal External
Controllability STABLE UNSTABLE STABLE UNSTABLE
CONTROLLABLE Typical Effort Temporary effort Some forms of Unusual help
exerted for a teacher bias from others
particular exam
UNCONTROLLABLE Exerted ability Mood Exam difficulty Luck

Correspondent Inference – an inference that the action of an actor corresponds

to, or is indicative of, a stable personal characteristic.

• Social Desirability – People are much more likely to make dispositional

attributions about behavior that is socially undesirable than about behavior
that is desirable.
• Actor's Degree of Choice – Actions freely chosen are considered to be
more indicative of an actor's true personal characteristics than those that
are coerced.
• Noncommon Effects – outcomes that could not be produced by any other
action.

The Covariation Model Explains Attributions Derived from Multiple

Observation Points

Covariation Principle – a principle of attribution theory stating that for

something to be the cause of a particular behavior, it must be present when the
behavior occurs and absent when it does not occur.

Discounting Principle – a principle of attribution theory stating that whenever

there are several possible causal explanations for a particular event, people tend
to be much less likely to attribute the effect to any particular cause.

BIASES IN ATTRIBUTION

Fundamental Attribution Error – the tendency to overestimate the impact of

dispositional causes and underestimate the impact of situational causes on other
people's behavior.
• Predictability Need – We prefer making dispositional attributions because
locating the cause of people's behavior in their attitudes and personalities
gives us greater confidence that we can accurately predict their future
behavior.
• Perceptual Salience – dynamic movements, distinctive voice, and overall
physical presence are most noticeable to social perceivers.
Cultural Differences
Collectivists are more attentive to how situational factors may influence people's
behavior while individualists take into account people's dispositions when
explaining their behavior.
Views of the SELF:
• Individualists view the self as internally driven and relatively uninfluenced
by situational forces (the independent self).
• Collectivists view the self as dependent on the group and strongly
influenced by social obligations (the interdependent self).

Actor-Observer Effect
− the tendency for people to attribute their own behavior to external
causes but that of others to internal factors.

Self-Serving Bias
− the tendency to assign an internal locus of causality for our positive
outcomes and an external locus for our negative outcomes.

Characterization-Correction Model – a dual-process model that contends we

initially automatically characterize people's behavior as being caused by
dispositional factors and then later correct attribution to better account for
situational factors.

THE CHARACTERIZATION- CORRECTION MODEL: A THREE-STAGE

EXPLANATION OF THE ATTRIBUTION PROCESS

Spontaneous Spontaneous Deliberate

behavioral dispositional attributional
categorization characterization inference (What
(What is the actor (What dispositions situational factors
doing? does the behavior might have caused
imply?) the behavior?)

PRAGMATIC ACCURACY – the ability to understand how a target person will

behave in a limited set of social settings and in terms of a limited number of
behavioral dimensions.

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