Behavioral roots of person perception

The deception judgments of customs inspectors and laymen

Bibliographic Data

ID6202896
AuthorsRobert E Kraut (0000-0002-8554-2137, Cornell University, corresponding author), Donald B Poe
Year1980
Volume39
Issue5
Pages784-798
Publication date1980-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037//0022-3514.39.5.784
OpenAlexW4246278973
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited29

Typically, person perception research requires subjects to make inferences about others on the basis of verbal descriptions while it denies them the physical cues which may underlie many social judgments. In contrast to this traditional paradigm, we tried to assess the physical cues that people use in a social judgment and to examine the generality of their use across perceivers. Professional inspectors in the U.S. Customs Service and laymen judged whether they wanted to search airline passengers going through a mock customs inspection. An analysis of travelers' demographic characteristics and verbal and nonverbal behaviors showed that judges' decisions to search travelers were based primarily on the travelers' comportment. Comportment both mediated the effects of demographic characteristics and had direct effects on decisions. Twenty-one variables accounted for 72% of the variance in search decisions, and 6 variables accounted for 60% of the variance. Bivariate analyses show that travelers were most likely to be searched if they were young and lower class, appeared nervous, hesitated before answering, gave short answers, avoided eye contact with the interviewer, shifted their posture, and had taken pleasure trips. Individual differences among judges—inspectors versus laymen, successful versus less successful inspectors, and high self-monitors versus low self-monitors—had little effect on the cues they used. The results demonstrate the value of a social psychophysical approach to person perception that focuses on the behavior of the perceived

Deception · Impression formation · Perception · Social approval · Social perception · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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