forming impressions

Availability Heuristic

A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a given person's mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision.

Above-Average Effect

The bias where individuals believe they are "above average" on positive traits or tasks that are important to them.

Collectivist Society

Cultures that emphasize the needs and goals of the group as a whole over the needs and desires of each individual; these societies show a diminished Fundamental Attribution Error.

Consensus

A variable in Covariation Theory that considers how other people would behave in the same situation.

Consistency

A variable in Covariation Theory that considers whether a person behaves the same way in this specific situation at different times.

Correspondent Inference Theory

A theory that explains how we use a person's behavior to make inferences about their stable disposition, based on degree of choice, expectation, and intended consequences.

Covariation Theory

Kelley's theory that we make attributions based on three variables

Dispositional Factor

Attributing behavior to a person's internal traits, personality, or character.

Distinctiveness

A variable in Covariation Theory that considers whether a person behaves differently in other, different situations.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to overemphasize dispositional factors and underemphasize situational factors when explaining others' behavior.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that accelerate the processing of social situations.

Hypothetical Construct

Variables that are not directly observable (like "liking" or "intelligence") but are inferred from behavior.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon where people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.

Proximity

A key factor in attraction; we are more likely to be attracted to those who are physically close to us.

Representativeness Heuristic

A mental shortcut where we judge the probability of an event by how much it resembles a typical prototype.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute our own successes to dispositional factors and our failures to situational factors.

Situational Factor

Attributing behavior to external circumstances or the environment.