COMU2170
Week 3 tutorial notes
Sem 2, 2023
Week 3 tutorial: Social categorisation and culture
Learning objective:
• Understanding the influence of culture on how we see ourselves and others
Culture and social categorisation (see the required reading this week)
The way we respond to the external world is influenced by our cultural experiences - our
cultural “glasses” influence what we see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. Consistent findings from
previous research suggest that people’s ability to select incoming information, categorise it,
and interpret it differs across cultures because our culture gives us the criteria to apply to
make sense of the world around us.
Join the debate: Why does appearance matter?
We form first impression from facial appearance despite knowing that we should not “judge a
book by its cover”. The impact of face is reflected in our impression of people as well as in
our behaviour towards them, such as whom we help, whom we trust, whom we hire, or whom
we ask for a date. Scholars researching on perception believe that people’s facial qualities are
so useful in guiding adaptive behaviour that even a trace of those qualities can elicit a
response. For example, a cute baby face elicits protective responses, whereas an angry face
invites defensive responses. Although our perception of face may be accurate on many
occasions, at other times certain facial information can produce biased perceptions through
overgeneralisation. Generalisation based on facial appearances is a form of social
categorisation. This can lead to stereotypes of people from certain community, religion, or
culture.
Activity 1: Group discussion
• Do you think facial appearance matters? Why?
• What do you think are potential consequences of negative stereotypes of certain
groups of people?
Applying implicit personality theory
Implicit personality theory describes assumed relationships among personality traits. The
theory suggests that we organise our individual perceptions into clusters. Thus, when we
identify a trait in someone (e.g. careful), we assume the person also possesses other traits in
the cluster (e.g. organised). Once we have formed a first impression of someone, we tend to
look for cues that are consistent and supportive of this impression and ignore those that are
inconsistent.
Activity 2: Grouping personality traits
Ask each student to contribute a word describing a personality trait (e.g., quiet,
outgoing, bold, careless), and write them where everyone can see. Each student should then
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COMU2170
Week 3 tutorial notes
Sem 2, 2023
spend a few minutes grouping these characteristics into clusters. Get students to share their
clusters with the class.
Discuss:
• How much similarity was there in the clusters people created?
• Were there any significant differences? If so, how might they be explained?
• How does the clustering relate to Implicit Personality Theory?
Culture and perception of beauty
Our culture plays a huge role in our perceptions of beauty. Divide students into groups. Ask
each group to choose a culture (it can be a culture of the group members or outside the
group). And each group identifies one well-known celebrity from that culture. List the key
characteristics and features of the chosen celebrity (e.g., facial features, hair colour, height,
fashion, makeup, skin tone, etc.).
Activity 3: Compare identified beauty standards across cultures.
Discuss:
• What do these celebrities tell you about the beauty standards of each culture?
• Are there differences in male and female beauty standards across cultures?
Q&A about Assessment 1
Tutors will set aside some tutorial time for questions and answers about Assessment 1.
Next week (Week 4)
Week 4 is for self-directed learning; no lecture and no tutorials (see the ECP Learning
Activities). Wednesday 16 August is a public holiday (EKKA). Making Week 4 a self-
directed learning allows consistent coverage of learning materials across different tutorial
groups in the course.

Reminder
Assessment 1 is due in Week 4 – see the ECP; submit via Turnitin.