Accuracy in social perception: Criticisms, controversies, criteria, components, and cognitive processes

This article reviews controversies that have surrounded research on interpersonal accuracy for the last 50 years by providing and justifying a probabilistic conception of accuracy and by addressing the following issues: Whether accuracy can be distinguished from logical coherence; whether accuracy research provides insight into cognitive processes; why accuracy in perception of a behavior or trait must be distinguished from accurwy in explanations for that behavior or trait; how to distinguish self-fulfilling pro-phecy from accuracy; why distinguishing among several levels of analysis is crucial with respect to evaluating the accuracy of social stereotypes; whether accuracy research helps create or alleviate social problems; how accuracy can sometimes lead to discrimination; similarities and differences between establishing scientific construct validity and the accuracy of lay social beliefs; and the nature of some of the contributions to understanding social percep-tion provided by componential and noncomponential approaches to the study of accuracy