Social Self, Social Cognition, and Social Attributions

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key topics in Social Psychology including the social self, social cognition, heuristics, schemas, and causal attributions.

Physical Self-Concept

Self-concept based on physical qualities that do not imply social interaction, such as "I am a female" or "I am tall".

Social Self-Concept

Self-concept defined by social roles, institutional memberships, or identity/cultural groups, such as "I am a college student" or "I am Dominican".

Attribute Self-Concept

Self-concept defined by psychological or physiological states or traits, such as "I am intelligent" or "I am tired".

Global Self-Concept

Broad or vague self-descriptions that do not distinguish a person from others, such as "I am a human being" or "I am me".

Independent Cultures

Individualistic cultures (such as in the US, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia) where individuals view the self as a distinct social entity with stable attributes and voluntary social bonds.

Interdependent Cultures

Collectivistic cultures (such as in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe) where individuals view the self as inextricably linked to others, focusing on social roles, obligations, and context-dependent attributes.

Independent View of Self

A self-construal where the self is seen as an autonomous entity with firm boundaries separating the individual from ingroup and outgroup members.

Interdependent View of Self

A self-construal where identity overlaps significantly with social relationships and group memberships, characterized by permeable boundaries within the ingroup.

Better-Than-Average Effect

The tendency to overestimate one's own positive abilities and traits while underestimating negative ones, which is associated with good mental health and self-esteem.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

A cognitive bias in which individuals with low expertise or knowledge in a domain overestimate their skills because they lack the meta-cognitive expertise to recognize their mistakes.

Self-Esteem

The overall positive or negative evaluation an individual has of themselves.

Contingencies of Self-Worth

A perspective stating that self-esteem depends on evaluations of successes or failures in specific domains that an individual personally cares about.

Sociometer Theory

A theory proposing that self-esteem functions as an internal monitor gauge of how well an individual is accepted into a social group.

Social Identity Theory

A theory stating that group membership is a key source of self-esteem, maintained through positive distinctiveness, basking in reflected glory, and boosting ingroup status.

Positive Distinctiveness

Focusing on unique, positive attributes of one's ingroup to foster higher personal and collective self-esteem.

Bask in Reflected Glory

Experiencing an increase in self-esteem and positive feelings when one's ingroup performs well or accomplishes something positive.

Social Cognition

The study of how people think about, process, and make decisions regarding people and social situations.

Controlled Processes

Conscious, effortful, and purposeful mental operations used when processing information.

Automatic Processes

Unconscious, relatively effortless, and habitual mental operations often described as "mental autopilot".

Prototype

The most typical example of a category or schema, containing many of the central characteristics associated with that schema.

Schema

An organized knowledge structure containing general information about a category of people, objects, or events that aids in interpreting new situations.

Person Schemas

Schemas containing organized knowledge and general characteristics regarding specific types or roles of people (e.g., professors, Rhode Islanders).

Event Schemas (Scripts)

Schemas that specify the expected order of actions and behaviors in particular social contexts (e.g., dining at a restaurant, attending a wedding).

Gender Schemas

Cognitive structures learned in childhood that encompass social expectations, traits, interests, and emotions associated with gender categories.

Gap Filling

The cognitive process where individuals assume that general characteristics or stereotypes of a schema apply to a specific person or event once categorized.

Priming

The activation of specific schemas, memories, or associations in mind that subsequently influences interpretation of information.

Decision Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that enable quick and efficient decision-making, which can sometimes produce systematic errors or biases.

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the frequency or likelihood of an event based on how easily specific instances or examples come to mind.

Anchoring Heuristic

A bias where an initial starting numeric value (anchor) unduly skews subsequent estimation or judgment.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people share our own beliefs, opinions, and behaviors.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out and favor information that supports pre-existing beliefs while ignoring or overlooking contradictory evidence.

Counterfactual Thinking

Mentally imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that could have occurred but did not, especially when a different outcome came close to happening.

Causal Attribution

The process of identifying or inferring the underlying causes and explanations for a behavior or event.

Internal (Dispositional) Attribution

Explaining a person's behavior as being caused by internal factors such as personality traits, disposition, or ability.

External (Situational) Attribution

Explaining a person's behavior as being caused by environmental or situational factors external to the individual.

Kelley's Covariation Model

An attribution model asserting that causal attributions are made using three types of behavioral information: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency.

Consensus Information

An attribution component that asks whether other people behave in the same manner in the same social situation.

Distinctiveness Information

An attribution component that asks whether the target individual acts differently in the present situation compared to other different situations.

Consistency Information

An attribution component that asks whether the target individual acts the same way repeatedly across similar situations over time.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to attribute other people's behaviors primarily to internal dispositional factors while underestimating situational influences.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to make situational external attributions for one's own failures and internal dispositional attributions for one's own successes.

Perceptual Salience

The degree to which features or factors in the environment capture attention, making them more likely to be used in forming attributions.

Just World Hypothesis

The belief that the world is inherently fair and that individuals get what they deserve, which can provide a sense of safety but can lead to victim-blaming.