Final answer:
Social perception is influenced by perceiver/target characteristics such as attitudes, mood, and appearance. Culture and implicit biases also play a crucial role, shaping how we perceive others based on habitual environmental features and deep-seated stereotypes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Perceiver/Target Characteristics Affecting Social Perception
The question deals with the characteristics that can affect social perception. It is important to understand that social perception is influenced by a variety of factors including attitudes, mood, and appearance. These are characteristics related to the perceiver (the person doing the observing) or the target (the person being observed) and they can significantly shape how we perceive and interact with others.
Attitudes are our evaluations or feelings toward a person, idea, or object and can be either positive or negative. Mood can color our perception and interactions, affecting how we interpret and respond to information about others. Similarly, a person's appearance can influence the observer's perception and assumptions regarding their social standing, as reflected in clothing, hairstyle, and overall personal style.
Research shows that culture also plays a significant role in perception. For instance, individuals in Western cultures are more accustomed to environments with straight lines, a "carpentered world", and this influences their perceptual context. In contrast, people from non-Western cultures with an uncarpentered view, like the Zulu of South Africa, are less susceptible to certain visual illusions. Additionally, implicit biases and prejudice, as influenced by race or cultural factors, can affect how quickly one might associate weapons with certain racial groups, demonstrating a profound effect on social perception.