PSYCH 1X03 Forming Impressions

dispositional

we attribute the behaviour of the individual to their personality as opposed to their situation

situational

we attribute the behaviour of the individual to their situation as opposed to their personality

covariation theory

allows us to attribute actions to a person's internal environment (disposition) or their external environment (situation)

what are the three criteria of covariation theory?

consensus, distinctiveness, consistency

consensus

how would different people behave in the same situation?

distinctiveness

how would the same person behave in other situations?

consistency

how would the same person behave in the same situation at other times?

low consensus is a result of...?

disposition

high consensus is a result of...?

situation

low distinctiveness is a result of...?

disposition

high distinctiveness is a result of...?

situation

low consistency is a result of...?

the wider situation

high consistency is a result of...?

disposition or situation

how do we determine if high consistency is due to dispositional or situational attributes?

check with the individual's consensus/distinctiveness

correspondent inference theory

solely focuses on internal factors to determine motivations; you analyze a person's behaviour to make inferences

what are the three variables used to make inferences in correspondent inference theory?

degree of choice, expectation, intended consequence

degree of choice

amount of freedom an actor had in choosing their opinion/behaviour

expectation

degree to which an individual's behaviour in a particular social role matches our expectation for that role

intended consequence

goals and motivations of an actor underlying their behaviour

fundamental attribution error

tendency to overvalue dispositional factors for the observed behaviour and undervalue situtational factors, "what people do reflects who they are"

fundamental attribution error (FAE!) is mainly related to _________ behaviour

other's

actor/observer effect

we consider the situational factors for ourselves but dispositional factors for others

which cultures are more widely effected by FAE(!)

western culture/individualist societies

an indian person would be more likely to attribute a behaviour to the...?

situation

an american person would be more likely to attribute a behaviour to the...?

disposition

which cultures are less effected by FAE(!)

indian/chinese/collectivist societies

self-serving bias

we attribute success to disposition and failure to situation

above average effect

we are biased to believe we are above average at things that are important to us

representativeness heuristic

seeing how well a behaviour fits in with your prototype

how do prototypes affect how we judge a particular outcome?

we often discount probability in favour of an idea that makes more sense within our own prototype

availability heuristic

considers the experience most readily available in our memory

what four factors increase attractiveness?

proximity, familiarity, physical attractiveness, other's opinions of us

what does an attractive person do to other people? (NOT LIKE THAT BUCKO)

leaves a positive impression, causes you to desire their company

proximity

a person is more attractive if they are closer physically or functionally (degree to which you can interact)

familiarity

a person is more attractive the more familiar with their face we become

mere exposure effect

tendency to perceive a previous stimulus as more favourable

physical attractiveness

more attractive things are considered better, physically attractive people are considered more positively

Clifford/Hatfield study

grade 5 teachers judged attractive children as more intelligent than unattractive children

halo effect

tendency to attribute more positive characteristics to individuals that make a positive impression (representativeness heuristic)

other's opinion of us

we like people who like us, especially when we have a low self esteem

how does a person's change in perception of us influence our opinion of them

we like people more who start with a negative opinion of us that turns positive (we also dislike people more if they start with a positive opinion of us that turns negative)

the "Linda" problem

researchers presented three groups of people with varying understanding of statistics with a question. regardless of knowledge, all three groups were likely to be affected by their prototype (representativeness heuristic)

false consensus effect

we tend to believe more people share our beliefs than actually do

illusory correlation

when individuals believe that two variables are related even though there is no evidence for the relationship. this is particularly relevant to the formation of stereotypes.

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

researchers used to measure racial biases; two categories have one response key (i.e. left) and two categories have another response key (i.e. right). participants are presented with words and asked to sort them while their response time is tested to determine implicit associations and biases.

in-group

the group you are part of; positive attitudes

out-group

the group you are not part of; negative attitudes

stereotypes

beliefs about attributes that are thought to be characteristic of members of a particular group

prejudice

a negative attitude or affective response toward a certain group and its members

discrimination

negative behaviour towards members based on negative attitudes

how are impressions formed?

memory and prototype theory