Glossary

actor-observer effect: The tendency to identify external forces as causes for our behaviors instead of internal factors. For instance, Leon says he snapped at a coworker because she was slow instead of blaming his own impatience.

algebraic impressions: Impressions of others that continually change as we add and subtract positive or negative information that we learn about them.

attributions: Rationales we create to explain the comments or behaviors of others. For example, Ryan reasons that Jason’s quietness in class means that Jason is shy.

empathy: Understanding of another person’s perspective and awareness of his or her feelings in an attempt to identify with him or her. For instance, Gill doesn’t agree with Mike’s protest against the new policies at work, but he can see why Mike was worried and angry.

fundamental attribution error: The tendency to attribute someone’s behavior solely to his or her personality rather than to outside forces.

Gestalt: A general sense of a person that’s either positive or negative. See also halo effect; horn effect.

halo effect: A tendency to interpret anything another person says or does in a favorable light because you have a positive Gestalt of that person.

horn effect: A tendency to interpret anything another person says or does in a negative light because you have a negative Gestalt of that person.

implicit personality theories: Personal beliefs about different types of personalities and the ways in which traits cluster together. For instance, Bradley assumes that Will is a disorganized procrastinator because of Will’s casual, friendly manner.

ingroupers: People you consider fundamentally similar to yourself because of their interests, affiliations, or backgrounds. Contrast outgroupers.

interpersonal impressions: Mental pictures about who people are and how we feel about them. For instance, when Sarah and Georgia met, Georgia thought Sarah’s boisterous laugh meant that Sarah was obnoxious.

interpretation: The stage of perception in which we assign meaning to the information we have selected. For instance, Randy thinks a man running down the sidewalk hurries because he is late, but Shondra infers that the man is chasing someone.

negativity effect: A tendency to place emphasis on the negative information we learn about others.

organization: The step of perception in which we mentally structure selected sensory data into a coherent pattern.

outgroupers: People you consider fundamentally different from you because of their interests, affiliations, or backgrounds. Contrast ingroupers .

perception: The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information from our senses.

perception-checking: A five-step process to test your impressions of others and to avoid errors in judgment. It involves checking your punctuation, knowledge, attributions, perceptual influences, and impressions.

personality: An individual’s characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and acting based on the traits he or she possesses.

positivity bias: A tendency for first impressions of others to be more positive than negative.

punctuation: A step during organization when you structure information you’ve selected into a chronological sequence that matches how you experienced the order of events. For example, Bobby claims his sister started the backseat argument, but she insists that he poked her first.

salience: The degree to which particular people or aspects of their communication attract our attention.

schemata: Mental structures that contain information defining the characteristics of various concepts (such as people, places, events), as well as how those characteristics are related to one another. We often use schemata when interpreting interpersonal communication. When Charlie describes his home as “retro,” Amanda visualizes it before she even sees it.

selection: The first step of perception during which we focus our attention on specific sensory data, such as sights, sounds, tastes, touches, or smells.

self-serving bias: The tendency to attribute our success to internal, rather than external, factors. For example, Ruth attributes the success of a project to her leadership qualities rather than to the dedicated efforts of her team.

stereotyping: Categorizing people into social groups and then evaluating them based on information we have in our schemata related to each group.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory: A theory explaining that the primary compulsion during initial encounters is to reduce uncertainty about our conversational partners by gathering enough information about them so their communication becomes predictable and explainable.