Self and Others

Abstract

At the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• 1. Describe how people store information about themselves and about others as schemata.

• 2. Outline the self-perception theories put forward by Bem, Weiner and others.

• 3. Identify what is meant by the attribution process in the judgement of a person’s character.

• 4. Describe models of the attribution process as they apply both to a person’s perception of ’self’ and of others.

• 5. Describe some of the influences of social cognition in how we perceive ourselves and others.

• 6. Identify some of the factors which may cause us to be attracted to another person.

• 7. Describe some of the theories put forward to explain attraction to others, including social exchange theory, interdependence theory and reinforcement/affect theory.

• 7. Identify some of the factors involved with the growth of prejudice.

• 8. Describe some other attempts which have been made to explain prejudice, including the frustration-aggressson hypothesis, authoritarian personality and belief-congruence theory.