Wednesday, April 11, 2012
April 9-15 / Question 2
I think, whether consciously or not, we all form immediate first impression of others after we first meet them. These first impressions cause us to attribute certain characteristics that may or may not be accurate. If I meet a guy who dresses a certain way, acts a certain way and carries himself a certain way, (based upon my prior experiences) I will think of him as being one certain thing. From the simple, rather cursory observations I’ve made, I will come to expect from him certain behaviors. Attribution theory says, “People act as they do in conflict situations because of the inferences they make about others based on their behavior”. Much like stereotyping, It’s another way in which we tend to always want to lump people to together into groups and see them not for their unique qualities, but rather the qualities of their “group” as a whole.
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I agree with how you compared the attribution theory to stereotyping. Both are very similar from the standpoint that we’re making inferences about someone based on their behavior. Often times within the first 10 seconds of meeting someone we have already made a judgment about them based on many variables. In my experiences the way someone dresses in a business setting can play a major role on how I perceive them. If they are well dressed I tend to take them more seriously versus someone who looks like they have put no effort into what they are wearing. To me this isn’t vanity, more taking notice about how someone presents themselves and how they want to be perceived by the public.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is human nature that we judge person a certain way due to our first impressions with them. We typically put them into a certain stereotype that they fit, which could be a good and a bad thing. It’s not like we do it intentionally, but I just think that it is human nature. Personally, I don't think it’s a good thing because we have all been proven wrong after putting someone in a certain stereotype. For example, people always assume that Asians are bad drivers. However, I know from personal experience that not all Asians are bad drivers. Society just places these stereotypes and it’s the norm to just follow them, even though we shouldn’t .
ReplyDeleteHi Ben,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I agree with you that attributions can be directly related to stereotyping and biased judgment we place on others. You mention how depending on the way someone dresses, acts, and carries themselves, you make assumptions to their personality. These internal attributions can definitely limit our perspectives to the people we interact with. We might get a quick glance at the behavior of a person and automatically label them, without knowing why they were acting that way. I think this concept was a great reminder that we need to always take into consideration all factors and not be quick to make assumptions.