CONTENT SUMMARY 1
Content Summary Assignment: Social Perceptions
Adriana Sandoval
Department of Psychology, Liberty University
PSY 512: Social Psychology
Dr. Busarow
June 1, 2025
CONTENT SUMMARY 2
Introduction
Individuals frequently base their self-presentation and self-principles on the people they
may be around and how they want other people to see them (Chadee et al., 2011). The majority
of individuals compare themselves to others, believe they are special, and have high self-
esteem. Most people in this situation desire to be seen favorably by others. There are also those
people who would present themselves in one way in public but another in private. Some people
make snap judgments about others before getting to know them, or they make assumptions
about the character of others based on their initial impressions. Our impressions of other
people can be misleading, influence our actions, and give us expectations about what we
believe to be the truth even when it is not (Kassin et al., 2021).
Summary Points
Situational Attribution
The way that outside influences affect a person's attribution is known as situational
attribution (Kassin et al., 2021). A study by Laczniak et al. (2001) aimed to decide how a firm
would be affected by negative vs good word-of-mouth communication. The research study
includes situational attribution as the feelings of potential customers toward the business are
figured out by an outside source. After conducting two investigations, the researchers came to
the conclusion that while bad word-of-mouth communication has a substantial negative impact
on a firm, it may also raise customer brand assessments (Laczniak et al., 2001).
Social Comparison Theory
According to Kassin et al. (2021), social comparison theory describes how people assess
their own beliefs and actions by contrasting them with those of others. Since people may see
another person's public life on social media without contacting them personally, it serves as a
primary platform for social comparison. Ine et al. (2001) sought to investigate the distinct effects
CONTENT SUMMARY 3
of social media on an individual. According to the study's findings, each person experienced
social media's effects differently.
To find out if social media use has a unique effect on each adolescent's welfare, Ine et al.
(2020) conducted research. The sample size for the research study consisted of 63 teens, with
an average age of 15. The study concluded that most teens do not at once notice any changes in
their wellbeing because of using social media after looking at a variety of criteria. Additionally, if
they undergo any changes, they are frequently more favorable than unfavorable (Ine et al.,
2020).
Self-Perception Theory
The self-perception hypothesis says that people can get self-awareness by checking their
behavior when internal signs are hard to decipher (Kassin et al., 2021). To better grasp the
concept, Chadee (2022) presented the dollar demonstration. If someone were offered a
promotion to a game for one dollar, they would say that it was fun. Given that they only won
one dollar, the person's claim about the game was true, and they believed it. Given the high
value of the money being provided, the likelihood that someone would not believe their
statement increases if they were asked the same question but paid $20.
Conclusion
Three well-known approaches to how people receive and absorb information from
others are Situational Attribution, Social Comparison Theory, and Self-Perception Theory.
Situational attribution describes how an individual's actions are influenced by outside
circumstances. Comparing one's own and other people's social and personal conduct is known
as social comparison theory. When internal acts are difficult to understand, a person might
obtain insight by seeing their conduct, according to the self-perception hypothesis. Every
individual receives knowledge in a variety of ways, both personally and via society. The
fundamental foundation of social psychology is the idea of social belief.
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References
Chadee, D. (2022). Theories in social psychology (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN:
9781119627883.
Ine, B., Loes, P. J., van Driel Irene, I., Loes, K., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). The effect of social
media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent.Scientific Reports (Nature
Publisher Group), 10(1)https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67727-7
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2021). Social psychology (11th ed). Cengage Learning.
ISBN: 9780357122846
Laczniak, R. N., DeCarlo, T. E., & Ramaswami, S. N. (2001). Consumers' responses to negative
word-of-mouth communication: An attribution theory perspective. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 11(1), 57-73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1480311
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