Peter was a student in his early twenties, and apart from several inconsequential trysts, had spent most of his life alone and indifferent to the world of love and romance. He had, in fact, become so accustomed to this lifestyle that he assumed this would be his fate, and had made peace with the prospects of a cold and lonely existence. This assumption was proven wrong when Peter met Gwen, a girl Peter had chanced to meet in one of his elective courses. Gwen aroused in Peter feelings that he had never experienced before, and he found himself uncharacteristically smitten. The feelings were...

People are special. Person perception is quite different from rock perception, for example. Geologists, those with a rock in their shoe, and pet rock owners aside, the perception of a rock is often merely the perception of a collection of lines and surfaces. Yet people are not simply collections of lines and surfaces. People have inner worlds such as mental states and emotions, and unique expressions of those inner worlds, such as personalities, emotional expressions, and behaviors. The study of person perception examines how we perceive people and infer their inner worlds from our...

Situations matter ; they have an effect on us all, great or small. We are told we should walk a mile in someone else ’ s shoes, to “ look at it from my point of view, ” and would never dream of swearing in the principal ’ s office. So why are we so quick to judge others ’ behavior as if the situations they find themselves in are irrelevant? Imagine you are walking with a friend along a crowded city street. Just up ahead, the wind starts to gust and some money floats down from a woman ’ s pocket, falling to the ground directly behind her step. A man darts from the throng of people and rushes...