Forming Impression and Social

Schema
Rizqy Amelia Zein
Department of Personality and Social Psychology
Universitas Airlangga
slides: https://hackmd.io/@ameliazein/kogsos-2

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 Social cognition
We tend to use thought and cognition
interchangeably; however, the two terms are
very different accroding to social
psychologists.
Thought is the internal language and symbols
we use – it is often conscious, or at least
something we are or could be aware of.

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 Social cognition
Cognition is broader; it also refers to mental
processing that can be largely automatic.
Cognition acts a bit like a computer
program or operating system.

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 Social cognition
Social cognition an approach in social
psychology that focuses on how cognition is
affected by wider and more immediate social
contexts and on how cognition affects our
social behaviour.

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Let’s start with finding out how we
form an impression of others

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Asch’s Configural Model (1946)
We tend to see others as a whole rather than
the sum of its parts (Gestalt).
We combine central and peripheral traits, in
which central traits play a significant role in
configuring the final impression of others.

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Asch’s Configural Model (1946)
Central trait Traits that have a
disproportionate influence on the
configuration of final impressions.
Peripheral trait Traits that have an
insignificant influence on the configuration of
final impressions.

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Bias in forming impression
Primacy & recency effect (Asch)
Primacy the traits presented first
massively influenced the final impression.
Early information acts as a central cues.
Recency later information has more
impact than earlier information. Happens
when we are distracted or less motivated
to pay attention to others.
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Bias in forming impression
In the absence of information to the contrary,
people tend to assume the best of others
and form a positive impression (Sears, 1983).
However, any negative information attracts
our attention and looms large in our
subsequent impression – we are biased
towards negativity (Fiske, 1980).
We are extremely sensitive to negative
information and this is difficult to change.
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Bias in forming impression
Physical appearance could affect how we
perceive others.
Appearance-based impressions can be
surprisingly accurate (Zebrowitz & Collins,
1997).
Research confirms that we tend to assume
that physically attractive people are
‘good’ (Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972)
– they are interesting, warm, outgoing,
socially skilled, and moral.
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 Cognitive algebra
(Anderson, 1974)
…is an approach to the study of impression
formation that focuses on how we assign
positive and negative valence to attributes
and how we then combine these pluses and
minuses into a general evaluation.
There are three principal models of cognitive
algebra: summation, averaging, and weighted
averaging.
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 Social schemas
… is ‘cognitive structure which represents a
concept or type of stimulus, including
attributes and relations between these
attributes’ (Fiske & Taylor 2017).
Schema is formed via previous
experience.
When schema is activated, it facilitates a top-
down, concept-driven, or theory-driven
information processing model.
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 Social schemas
Simply put, the social schemas are…
Patterns of thought and behavior that are
organised.
A mental framework that focuses on a
specific theme, that helps us to organise
information.
Schemes tend to persist, although we are
faced with different situations.

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 Schemas types
Person schema
Knowledge structure of specific people.
Role schema
Knowledge structure about specific roles
(e.g. wife, husband, father, teacher,
student, etc.).

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 Schemas types
Scripts
Schemas regarding situation/context.
Self-schema
Schemas about self-concept.

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 Schemas types
Content-free schema
This schema does not contain specific
information, but contains rules regarding
information processing.
e.g. if Paijo likes Siti, while Siti thinks
Kasino is annoying, then Paijo must stay
away from the Kasino so that Siti likes
him.
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Social categorisation and prototypes
Schemas help individuals to organise
information by:
Providing a ‘container’ for categorising
new information.
Providing information to form
prototypes.
Categories are organised hierarchically
So that a very specific category is part of
a category that is more inclusive.
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Social categorisation and prototypes
In abstracting prototypes, an individual
usually uses concrete information that he
experiences himself (or exemplars, Smith &
Zarate 1992).
E.g. when asked to describe “an American”,
individuals tend to describe an American who
they have met as a prototype.

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Social categorisation and stereotypes
Stereotype is a shared generalization on a
social group.
Represents schemas for certain social
groups, tends to simplify and be
derogatory, especially when the
stereotypes are about the outgroups.
We usually rely on the most visible
differences between groups.

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Social categorisation and stereotypes
Stereotypes are mental templates that
individuals often use to reduce complexities
especially when other information is not
available.
It is dangerous if it leads to prejudice and
discriminatory behavior.

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Perceptual accentuation principle
(Tajfel)
The categorisation of stimuli produces a
perceptual accentuation of intra-category
similarities and inter-category differences
on dimensions believed to be correlated with
the categorisation.
The accentuation effect is enhanced where
the categorisation has importance, relevance
or value to the individuals.
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Why we develop stereotypes?
Forming a coherent picture of the social
context and reduces uncertainty (Hogg
2007).
Justifying social roles (Eagly 1995) and power
imbalance (Fiske 1993).
Explaining the roots of intergroup conflicts
(Jost & Banaji 1994).
…and contributing to entice positive feelings
from being affiliated to a certain social group
(Ho & Sidanius 2010). 26
 What have we known?
People are remarkably tend to characterise
large human groups in terms of a few fairly
crude common attributes.
Stereotypes are slow to change, but it’s
possible to modify it through social contact.
Stereotypes generally change in response to
wider social, political or economic changes.

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 What have we known?
Stereotypes become more pronounced and
hostile when there is social tension and
conflict between groups, and then they are
extremely difficult to modify.
Stereotypes are not inaccurate or wrong;
rather, they serve to make sense of particular
intergroup relations.

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 What have we known?
Stereotypes are acquired at an early age,
often before the child has any knowledge
about the groups that are being stereotyped
(but other research suggests that some
stereotypes crystallise later in childhood,
after age 10; (Rutland 1999).

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Stereotype content model (Fiske, 2018)

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 Individual differences in using
schemas
Attributional complexity – people vary in
the complexity of their explanations of other
people (Fletcher, et al., 1986).
Uncertainty orientation – people vary in
their interest in gaining information versus
remaining uninformed but certain (Sorrentino,
et al., 2001).
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 Individual differences in using
schemas
Need for cognition – people differ in how
much they like to think deeply about things
(Cacioppo & Petty, 1982).
Need for cognitive closure – people differ in
how quickly they need to tidy up cognitive
loose ends and move to a decision or make a
judgement (Kruglanski & Webster, 1996).

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 Individual differences in using
schemas
Cognitive complexity – people differ in the
complexity of their cognitive processes and
representations (Crockett, 1969).
Accessibility and salience.

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 Changing schemas
Bookkeeping – slow change in the face of
accumulating evidence.
Conversion – sudden and massive change
once a critical mass of disconfirming evidence
has accumulated.
Subtyping – schemas morph into a
subcategory to accommodate disconfirming
evidence.
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 Thank you!
Should you have any questions, drop them in:
Spreadsheet; or
Drop-in session (every Friday at 11-12); or
Email

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