Post by eddiegonz on Apr 5, 2016 3:32:34 GMT
"Social Perception and Interpersonal Behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of stereotypes"- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Contributors: Mark Snyder, Elizabeth D. Tanke, Ellen Berscheid
Summary: Social stereotypes may not influence one's initial judgement of a person( provide a specific first impression), but also has an impact on the behavior of the person that is being perceived. The perceiver's actions induced by stereotypical attributes on a "target" are confirmed by the change of behavior in the target; in other words, if someone believes that "beautiful people are nice and friendly", people who they find attractive are more likely to exhibit the generalized behavior of being nice and friendly.
But is this really true? Are attractive people more friendly? Not necessarily. But cmon, whose day isnt made when they are complimented. Its was analyzed that people's future behavior could be predicted by a predisposed stereotype. In the study, 51 men were given the task to talk to a woman over the phone. But before they did, they were given a picture of the supposed woman they were gonna talk to and were asked to rate her attractiveness.They were then asked how they expected the women to behave. Those that perceived the woman as physically attractive believed she would be more social and outgoing, whereas those that perceived the woman as unattractive believed she'd be more serious or unsociable. Then they engaged in a recorded conversation, that was assessed by judges to see how enthusiastic and engaged the people were in the conversation. Conclusion was that the girls who were seen as more attractive were the ones that were more animated and friendly. It appeared that what seemed to be in the mind of the men soon became the reality exhibited in the behavior in the women (Snyder et. al)
Why is this? This observation is a 2 man job because we are biased. To the men that thought the woman was attractive: they make more of an intent to engage in conversation because they are interested in something, that is the beauty of the woman and the woman reciprocates her interest in the conversation by picking up the social cues and being more flirtatious and happy.
Its interesting because we are all well aware of the various stereotypes and yet we can sometimes fall victims to our self fulfilled prophecy. whether or not we mean to exhibit or support these stereotypes, sometimes they just happen but this may simply be a result of "interaction guided by perception." Our internal thoughts can be soon exhibited in the behavior of others, whether we mean to do that is another topic.
This only shows that our subconscious may be responsible for thoughts and actions we didnt know it could influence. And we are very impressionable and easily influenced, whether that is conscious or subconsciously.
Same thing can be said about race and gender. Our perception based on stereotypes may very well prompt someone to act just like we think they would. I guess our thoughts about someone really do matter, even if we think they dont and words may very well be a powerful tool in building or destroying someone's person.
But the question is: to what degree can we influence someone's actions. Are we ever really free from the stereotypes that surround us and are our actions a result of our own thoughts or of prejudice?
Contributors: Mark Snyder, Elizabeth D. Tanke, Ellen Berscheid
Summary: Social stereotypes may not influence one's initial judgement of a person( provide a specific first impression), but also has an impact on the behavior of the person that is being perceived. The perceiver's actions induced by stereotypical attributes on a "target" are confirmed by the change of behavior in the target; in other words, if someone believes that "beautiful people are nice and friendly", people who they find attractive are more likely to exhibit the generalized behavior of being nice and friendly.
But is this really true? Are attractive people more friendly? Not necessarily. But cmon, whose day isnt made when they are complimented. Its was analyzed that people's future behavior could be predicted by a predisposed stereotype. In the study, 51 men were given the task to talk to a woman over the phone. But before they did, they were given a picture of the supposed woman they were gonna talk to and were asked to rate her attractiveness.They were then asked how they expected the women to behave. Those that perceived the woman as physically attractive believed she would be more social and outgoing, whereas those that perceived the woman as unattractive believed she'd be more serious or unsociable. Then they engaged in a recorded conversation, that was assessed by judges to see how enthusiastic and engaged the people were in the conversation. Conclusion was that the girls who were seen as more attractive were the ones that were more animated and friendly. It appeared that what seemed to be in the mind of the men soon became the reality exhibited in the behavior in the women (Snyder et. al)
Why is this? This observation is a 2 man job because we are biased. To the men that thought the woman was attractive: they make more of an intent to engage in conversation because they are interested in something, that is the beauty of the woman and the woman reciprocates her interest in the conversation by picking up the social cues and being more flirtatious and happy.
Its interesting because we are all well aware of the various stereotypes and yet we can sometimes fall victims to our self fulfilled prophecy. whether or not we mean to exhibit or support these stereotypes, sometimes they just happen but this may simply be a result of "interaction guided by perception." Our internal thoughts can be soon exhibited in the behavior of others, whether we mean to do that is another topic.
This only shows that our subconscious may be responsible for thoughts and actions we didnt know it could influence. And we are very impressionable and easily influenced, whether that is conscious or subconsciously.
Same thing can be said about race and gender. Our perception based on stereotypes may very well prompt someone to act just like we think they would. I guess our thoughts about someone really do matter, even if we think they dont and words may very well be a powerful tool in building or destroying someone's person.
But the question is: to what degree can we influence someone's actions. Are we ever really free from the stereotypes that surround us and are our actions a result of our own thoughts or of prejudice?
