Fluent Essays

Confirmation bias is an interesting phenomenon; it explains peoples misplaced confidence when evaluating someone’s character based on first impressions. If people allow their first impressions to be challenged, there is a chance that subsequent information will compel a revision. However, not everyone is willing to change their first impressions; somehow, their belief in being a good judge of character is threatened if their impression changes. In this case, there is a resistance to new information that may challenge what they already believe is true. They will likely focus only on details that confirm their first impression while ignoring those that do not. This is why so many insist that, based on “sound” first impressions, they are excellent judges of character. Clearly, this is not necessarily so. For this Discussion, you will consider a personal experience regarding first impressions and apply social psychology theory to explore how impressions form quickly and persist.    Review the Learning Resources for this week and consider how downward comparisons and idealized images of physical attractiveness impact the developing self-concept. Also, consider whether this impact would be different across race and ethnicity.  Post a description of a time when you were certain your first impression of someone you had just met was accurate, only to discover subsequently that you were mistaken. Describe how social psychology theory explains this phenomenon.    Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (Eds.). (2019). Social psychology (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Chapter 4, “Social Perception: How We Come to Understand Other People”  Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the social psychology theory and research. In addition to the Learning Resources, search the Walden Library and/or Internet for peer-reviewed articles to support your post and responses. Use proper APA format and citations, including those in the Learning Resources.Where Does the Buck Stop? Applying Attribution Theory to Examine Public Appraisals of the President CIGDEM V. SIRIN University of Texas at El Paso JOSÉ D. VILLALOBOS University of Texas at El Paso This study applies attribution theory to examine public appraisals of the president. To date, most political science research on attribution theory has focused on domestic policy, and no work has considered both domestic and foreign policy domains in tandem. To fill this gap, we formulate and experimentally test a series of hypotheses regarding the level of responsibility and credit/blame that individuals attribute to the president in both policy domains across varying policy conditions. We also consider how party compatibility affects people’s attribution judg- ments. Our findings provide a new contribution to the literature on political attributions, executive accountability, and public perceptions of presidential performance. Modern presidents have increasingly taken on a public leadership role in the political arena. Through wars, economic crises, and increased civic demands, presidents have sought more involvement and influence in overseeing public affairs (Edwards 1983), a development accompanied by an exponential growth and institutionalization of the executive branch (Burke 2000; Hart 1995). Amid such developments, the media has focused on the president as the most salient political actor (Farnsworth and Lichter 2006; see also Brody 1991), while public polling surveys have consistently connected the president’s job performance with conditions in the foreign and domestic policy domains Cigdem V. Sirin is assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso. She has recently published her work in Acta Politica, International Political Science Review, and the International Journal of Conflict Management. José D. Villalobos is assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has recently published articles in Political Research Quarterly, Administration & Society, the International Journal of Public Administration, and Review of Policy Research. AUTHORS’ NOTE: We wish to thank Nick Valentino and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful insights and comments on this project. Presidential Studies Quarterly 41, no. 2 (June) 334 © 2011 Center for the Study of the Presidency (see Edwards 1990). Subsequently, the public has developed growing expectations for presidents to be responsive to their needs (Cohen 1995, 1999). In the course of such systemic and institutional changes, presidents have, particu- larly during election campaigns, reinforced and embellished the perception that they have the means to solve the nation’s problems. However, presidents consistently fall short of keeping their promises to the public, revealing a gap between public expectations of the president and the president’s capacity for governing (see Cronin 1977). In the midst of this paradox, scholars have be