4.1- Attribution & Person Perception

Attribution Theory

The theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

Dispositional Attribution

Attributing behavior to the person's disposition and traits

Situational Attribution

Attributing behavior to the environment

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Believing negative events are temporary and specific

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Accounting for negative events or situations with internal, stable, and global explanations

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors

Internal Locus of Control

The perception that you control your own fate

External Locus of Control

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

An expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true

Social Comparison

Evaluating one's abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others

Relative Deprivation

The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself