4.1

Attribution Theory and Person Perception

what are dispositional (internal) attributions?

relates to internal qualities like personality or intelligence

ex.) that person ran the red light because they are a careless driver

what are situational (external) attributions?

relate to external circumstances or environmental factors

ex.) that person ran the red light because they are rushing to the hospital for an actual emergency

what is an explanatory style?

an habitual way individuals explain events to themselves + others

what is the optimistic explanatory style?

attributes negative events to external, temporary factors

ex.) I failed the test because I didn’t have enough time to study, but I can pass the retake! :)

what is the pessimistic explanatory style?

attributes negative events to internal, stable factors

ex.) I failed the test because I’m always bad at math

what is the fundamental attribution error?

a biased tendency to attribute others’ behaviors to their dispositions while underestimating situational factors

ex.) assuming a student is lazy because they’re late, not considering a one-time extraordinary traffic delay

what is self-serving bias?

a biased tendency to attribute personal successes to internal factors and failures to external ones

ex.) I aced the math test because I rock at math but I failed english because the teacher sucks - protects self-esteem but hinders personal growth

what is actor/observer bias?

a biased tendency to attribute our own actions to situational factors but others’ actions to dispositional factors

ex.) justifying our own harsh words due to stress but labeling someone else as rude for the same behavior

what is the locus of control?

a concept where individuals’ beliefs about the extent to which they can control events affecting them

what is an internal locus of control?

a belief that one’s own actions determine outcomes

what is an external locus of control?

a belief that external forces (luck, fate, others) determine outcomes

what is the mere exposure effect?

an increased liking of a stimulus due to repeated exposure over time

ex.) hearing a new song on the radio repeatedly and start to like it more

what is the self-fulfilling prophecy?

when a person’s expectations about someone lead to behaviors that cause the expectation to come true

ex.) a teacher believes a student is high-achieving, gives them more attention, and the student performs better

what is social comparison?

evaluating oneself by comparing with others

what is upward comparison?

comparing to those perceived as better off

• can motivate improvement or cause dissatisfaction

what is downward comparison?

comparing to those perceived as worse off

• can boost self-esteem

what is relative deprivation?

feeling deprived when comparing oneself to other who are better off

• can lead to feelings of frustration or injustice