Evaluation and Judgment

Morris and Maisto (2005) explain evaluation of people is often done through schemata (clothes, gestures, manner of speaking, tone of voice, appearance etc.) First evaluation is very important as a gauge to perceive others. This is called the primary effect. Most of us are lazy in this evaluation and do not exert ourselves in interpretation of details we perceive. Our perception can also be tainted by previously taught information about someone. If someone we trust gives us information of a person before we meet them we may have a first impression that is a self-fulfilling prophesy. In other words, our implanted impression does not allow us to see someone with objectivity.

In addition Morris and Maisto (2005) contend Stereotypes are another way we may evaluate someone. Sex, race, job, the way we look, where we live or membership in an organization may determine largely what our first impression will be about someone. Stereotyping may also cause a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Attribution

In regards to social interaction Morris and Maisto (2005) say scientists have developed a theory called the attribution theory, which helps explain our behavior in our relations with other people. They determined that we use three kinds of information to judge another person's behavior. The three kinds have been termed distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus. How distinctive a person's behavior is judged on whether the behavior has happened before. How consistent the behavior is how often it has occurred and the consensus is how many other people we associate with have that same behavior. There are many biases in attributions. For example we tend to attribute behavior to our experience of the three kinds of information leading us to believe the behavior comes from internal causes of the kind of person we are observing rather than what may be the external factors causing the behavior. This is called the fundamental error. Other types of bias are of a defensive nature happen, when we want to impress others or feel good about ourselves. A good example is explaining away our failures as being from external factors and our successes from internal ones. Another type of defense is called the just-world hypothesis. In this one, we tend to think people deserve things that happen to them because they are either good or bad. In the case of the bad, our tendency is to think it does not happen to us because we are better in some way.

Attitudes

Morris and Maisto (2005) report the study of why we are attracted to other people has revealed that we are attracted to other people for several reasons. The most pronounced of these reasons are things like proximity, physical attractiveness, similarity, exchange, and intimacy. How often we see someone has a lot to do with the success of a relationship since long distance relationships are harder to maintain. Next, the exchange of good feelings is important such as making each other feel good about each other. Common likes and dislikes are important as are what organizations we belong to, for example the same religion or social hobbies. As a relationship develops to a stage of trust intimacy, takes place and deeper levels of exchange take place. Finally, physical attractiveness has a lot to do with how we warm to a person. It is much easier to establish a relationship if a person is physically attractive to us.

Expectations

Morris and Maisto (2005) bring forth a premise that our expectations of others, from all our ways of evaluating people, work for us and against us. Of course, in a positive way we attain good relationships using our abilities to evaluate other people. However, in the reverse our attitudes in areas like prejudice and racism work against successful relationships. We often rob ourselves of advantages that would be gained from interaction in a positive way through our biases and wrong attitudes. This effects us personally and as a society as a whole and has the long-range effect of segregation and discrimination which can lead as far as violence and war.

Reference

Morris C.G., Maisto A.A. (2005), Psychology: an introduction, Twelfth edition, Prentice-Hall, Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education