Social Psychology Chapter 5

Actor-observer bias

Our tendency to think of personality when explaining other people’s behavior but remember the circumstances when explaining our own behavior.

Attribution theory

The idea that we try to understand other people’s behavior using commonsense explanations and clues.

Attributions

Our guesses for the cause of other people’s actions or events around us.

Central trait

A major characteristic in a person or object that creates a unified impression about the entire person (a halo effect).

Consensus

The dimension of Kelley’s covariation model of attribution that refers to whether other people tend to act the same way toward the target person.

Consistency

The dimension of Kelley’s covariation model of attribution that refers to whether the actor in the situation tends to act the same way toward everyone.

Covariation model of attribution

Our attempts to find systematic explanations for why people act how they do.

Cultureme

Culture-specific symbols that communicate widely shared ideas or social impressions.

Distinctiveness

The dimension of Kelley’s covariation model of attribution that refers to something unique about this situation that explains the actor’s behavior toward a target.

Duchenne smile

A genuine, sincere smile.

Duping delight

The facial smirk that appears when people think that they have gotten away with a lie.

External attributions

Explanations for someone’s behavior that are based on factors outside their control or about the circumstances, such as getting sick, the weather, or luck.

False consensus effect

The overestimation of how many other people share our values, perceptions, and beliefs.

False uniqueness bias

The belief that we are more unique than others when it comes to socially desirable traits.

Fundamental attribution error

Our tendency to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the power of the situation when making attributions about other people’s behaviors.

Halo effect

When an entire social perception of a person is constructed around a single trait.

Internal attributions

Explanations for someone’s behavior that are about them, like their personality or conscious choices.

Just world hypothesis

The idea that people need to believe in a fair world where people generally get what they deserve, which can lead to incorrect internal attributions for others’ behaviors or outcomes.

Locus of control

Our belief about whether we can control our own future (internal locus) or that our future is up to luck, fate, or a higher power (external locus).

Micro-expression

An involuntary flash of emotional honesty on someone’s face.

Mortality salience

When researchers make the idea of death, especially an individual’s own unavoidable death, more vivid.

Nonverbal communication

The many ways we signal information to others through body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions.

Person perceptions

How we perceive others, based on first impressions and (possibly biased) interpretations of their behavior later.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Expectations that make themselves come true because they change our own behavior and how others react to us.

Terror management theory

The idea that when we’re reminded of our own eventual death, we embrace comforting beliefs.

Truly false consensus effect

Overestimation that others share our beliefs, even after we have objective statistical information that contradicts that belief.

Universality hypothesis

The idea that nonverbal facial expressions are universal, regardless of culture.

What-is-beautiful-is-good effect

When physical attractiveness creates a halo effect such that individuals who are beautiful are also perceived to have several other positive characteristics.

The professor grades on a curve and Sam still does not achieve a passing grade. Sam still believes the test was unfair.

Sam attributes her poor performance on a test to the test being unfair. She speaks to a few other students who listen to her vent her frustrations about the test. What must occur next for this to be considered a truly false consensus effect?

distinctiveness

When you ask if the actor and target always act a certain way, you are trying to determine ______.

False (1)

The duping delight is a form of beauty bias. (1)

True (2)

Person perceptions are how we view others. (2)

false consensus effect

Shaun strongly supports his city's mayor. He assumes that everyone likes the mayor, too. This is an example of the ______.

True (3)

When we rely on internal attributions too much, it may lead to group prejudice. (3)

halo effect

The ______ occurs when you based your entire perception of someone around a central trait.

False (4)

Attributions are nonverbal cues we receive from others. (4)

false uniqueness bias

Karen believes that she has stronger intuition skills than others. She feels that this makes her better at recognizing deception than most other people. This is an example of the ______.

True (5)

The halo effect has been shown to be used for deceptive purposes in advertising. (5)

False (6)

We tend to assign external attribution when we do well. (6)

False (7)

Attributing behavior to situations is deeply ingrained in our reasoning. (7)

False (7)

If you describe a person as "cold," the halo effect means it is likely that you will view their actions as friendly and inviting. (7)

external attribution

Drew misses an important deadline at work. When his supervisor asks him why, Drew responds by saying, "I had such a high workload that I forgot about that deadline." What is this an example of?

False (8)

Research has found that mood plays almost no role in how we explain the behavior of others. (8)