Explain how the situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place influences perception.

Answers will vary. The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place, the social context, also influences perception. Meeting your professor in his or her office affects your impression differently than meeting your professor in a local restaurant would. The strength of situational cues also affects social perception. The assumption that an individual's behavior is accounted for by the situation is called the discounting principle. Please see the section "Social Perception" for more information.