Psychology 2035A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Victim Blaming, Social Perception

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2035A/B
• Professor: Alvin Segal

Document Summary

But if people are motivated to form an accurate impression of others or they suspicious about other"s motives, they will spend effort to complete second step. A defensive attribution : the tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way. Maintain belief that they live in a fair world where people get what they deserve. It is self-protective but irrational to allow people avoid unnerving though and feel control of lives: identify some ways in which perceptions of others are efficient, selective, and consistent. Efficiency when forming impressions of others, we prefer to exert no more cognitive effort or time than is necessary. Much social info is processed automatically and effortlessly. Selectivity we see what we expect to see by focusing on aspects of the person that confirm our expectations.