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5.2 DEFINITION OF SOCIAL PERCEPTION
 : 
Social perception and cognition are mental processes that 
help us to collect and remember information about others, and to 
make inferences and judgments based on that information
Social perception is defined as the study of how we form 
impressions of and make inferences about other people. In order 
to know about other people, we depend on information gained
from their physical appearance, and verbal and nonverbal 
communication. Missing informations are filled in by using an 
implicit personality theory: If a person is observed to have one 
particular trait, we assume that he or she has other traits related to 
this observed one. These assumptions help us to categorize people 
and then infer additional facts and predict behavior.
An implicit personality theory is a type of schema people 
use to group various kinds of personality traits together. Like other 
schemas, using these theories help us form well-developed 
impressions of other people quickly.
Social perceptions are also interlinked with self-perceptions. 
Both are influenced by self-motives. Society has the desire to 
achieve beneficial outcomes for the self and to maintain a positive 
self-image. Just as you prejudge the people you come across in 
society, you are being judged by them. As it is natural for humans
to want to make a good impression on people, your self-
perceptions almost mirror other's social perceptions. 

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According to David Krech and Richard S. Crutchfield there 
are two major determinants of perception, structural factors and 
functional factors
By structural factors we mean those factors driving solely 
from the nature of the physical stimuli and the natural effects they 
evoke in the nervous system of the individual. Thus, for the Gestalt 
psychologist, perceptual organizations are determined primarily by 
the psychological events occurring in the nervous system of the 
individual in direct reaction to the stimulation by the physical objects. 
Sensory factors are independent of the perceiving individual’s 
needs and personality.
The functional factors of perceptual organization are those, 
which derive primarily from the needs, moods, past experience and 
memory of the individual. All functional factors in perception are 
social in the usual sense of the term.
Social perception is one important component of social 
competence and successful social life. Being competent in social 
perception includes three domains of competence: (1) knowing that 
other people have thoughts, beliefs, emotions, intentions, desires, 
and the like, (2) being able to “read” other people’s inner states 
based on their words, behavior, facial expression and the like, and 
(3) adjusting one’s actions based on those “readings”. That is, a 
socially competent person can make note of other people’s facial 
expressions, tone of voice, posture, gestures, words, and the like, 
and on the basis of these clues, make reasonably accurate 
judgments about that person’s state of mind, emotions, and 
intentions. Socially competent people then use these inferences 
about other people’s inner states to make good decisions about 
how to behave socially. 
Thus socially competent people must have knowledge of 
social rules, roles, routines, and scripts in their social lives. 
Furthermore, they must make use of this knowledge and of these 
scripts in their decision making and acting. They also have a 
concern for other people and make it a habit to adjust their behavior 
based on the needs of others. Finally, they have the confidence 
needed to interact socially and accept the vulnerability associated 
with potential rejection.
Researchers have confirmed the fact that first impressions 
are important. Studies show that first impressions are easily 
formed, difficult to change, and have a long-lasting influence. 
Rather than absorbing each piece of new information about an 
individual in a vacuum, it is common for people to invoke a 
preexisting prototype or schema based on some aspect of the 
person, modifying it with specific information about the particular 

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individual to arrive at an overall first impression. One term for this 
process is schema-plus-correction. It can be dangerous because it 
allows people to infer many things from a very limited amount of 
information, which partially explains why first impressions are often 
wrong. 
If there is no special reason to think negatively about a 
person, one's first impression of that person will normally be 
positive, as people tend to give others the benefit of doubt. 
However, people are especially attentive to negative factors, and if 
these are present, they will outweigh the positive ones in 
generating impressions. One reason first impressions are so 
indelible is that people have a tendency to interpret new information 
about a person in a light that will reinforce their first impression. 
They also tend to remember the first impression, or overall schema, 
better than any subsequent corrections. Thus if a person whom one 
thinks of as competent makes a mistake, it will tend to be 
overlooked and eventually forgotten, and the original impression is 
the one that will prevail. Conversely, one will tend to forget or 
undervalue good work performed by someone initially judged to be 
incompetent. In addition, people often treat each other in ways that 
tend to elicit behavior that conforms to their impressions of each 
other.