Module 74: Attribution, Attitudes & Actions

What is social psychology?

The study of hoe we think about, influence, and relate to one another

What is attribution theory?

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

Under the attribution theory, what are the two kinds of attributions?

Dispositional and situational

What is a dispositional attribution?

Attributing behavior to a person’s stable, enduring traits

What is a situational attribution?

Attributing behavior to a situation

What is the fundamental attribution error?

When analyzing others’ behavior, the tendency for observers to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

What is an attitude?

Feelings that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

What is peripheral route persuasion?

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues

What is an example of peripheral route persuasion?

A speaker’s attractiveness

What is central route persuasion?

Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

What is an example of central route persuasion?

Facts and statistics

What is the false consensus effect?

The tendency to overestimate how much others agree with us

What is self-serving bias?

Individuals tend to attribute successes to their own internal factors and failures to external factors

Who conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Philip Zimbardo, a professor at Stanford

What did the results of the Stanford Prison Experiment show?

Situations can impact behavior

What is the foot-in-the-door phenomenon?

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger quest

What is a role?

A set of expectations about a social position that defines how those in the position ought to behave

What is the cognitive dissonance theory?

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent