Psych 161 Social Psychology and individual differences introduction

Individual Differences

study of variation in people & heavy emphasis in personality

Disposition

enduring characteristics of the person

• Individuals are predisposed to act a certain way

Assumptions of Disposition

1:stable over time

2: consistent throughout situations and events

Personality is:

colloquial; different for everyone and always changing

Situationism(social psychology)

belief that social situations are the most powerful impact on behavior

• Studies behavior and things going on mentally

Social Psychology

heavy emphasis on how individuals act the same across situations

Social Psychology common sense?

No, hindsight bias

Hindsight bias

Acting like you know it all and exaggerating an outcome based on previous experience