Social Psychology Additional Textbook Content

Covariation principle def + how we use it

The idea that behaviour should be attributed to potential causes that occur along with the observed behaviour

• By observing how behaviour varies across different situations + people to determine independent variable

Consensus def

A type of covariation information: whether most people would behave the same way in a situation

Distinctiveness def

• A type of covariation information; does the person behave this way only in this situation?

Situational attribution characteristics + example

• High consensus + high distinctiveness

• E.g. many people like particular maths unit, including friend that doesn’t like her other maths units

Dispositional attribution characteristics + example

• Low consensus + low distinctiveness

• E.g. not many people like particular maths unit + friend likes the maths unit but she likes her other maths units too

Counterfactual thinking def

Thoughts of what might have, could have, or should have happened “if only” something had occurred differently; sometimes used when assesing causality

Discounting principle

• Confidence in one cause is reduced if other plausible causes are identified (type of counterfactual thinking)

Emotional amplification def

Events that “almost didn’t happen” evoke stronger emotional responses (type of counterfactual thinking)

Self-serving attribution bias

• Tendency to attribute failure + other bad events to eternal circumstances + other good events to oneself

Fundamental attribution error def

• Failure to recognise importance of situational influences on behaviour, along with corresponding tendency to overemphasise the importance of dispositions on behaviour

Why is the fundamental attribution error so common? (1)

• Because people tend to catch our attention more than the environment

Actor-observer difference (1)

• Actors explain own behaviour as situational, whereas observers explain others’ behaviour as dispositional

Cultural differences in attribution (2)

• Western/individual cultures focus more on individual traits → more prone to FAE

• East Asian + interdependent cultures focus more on context + relationships → less prone to FAE

Gender differences in attribution (2) + note

• Men/boys more likely to attribute failures to lack of effort and successes to ability

• Women/girls more likely attribute failures to lack of ability and successes to external factors

• Reinforced by teacher feedback patterns in early education

3 main influences of schemas

• Direct our attention

• Structure our memories

• Influence our interpretations/construals

How schemas influence our attention (1) + implication (1)

• Guide us to focus on expected elements and filter out unexpected elements (e.g. gorilla experiment)

• Schemas can make us blind to dramatic, unexpected stimuli

How schemas influence our memory (1) + implication (1)

• We tend to remember info that fits with our schemas + forget inconsistent details

• Can reinforce stereotypes

How schemas influence our interpretations/construals + example

• Schemas shape how we interpret ambiguous info (e.g. “Donald”, where recently activated schemas can bias our construals when info is ambiguous)