4.1-4.3

Attribution Theory

A theory that explains how individuals determine the causes of behavior and events.

Dispositional Attributions

Attributions that assign behavior to internal characteristics or traits.

Situational Attributions

Attributions that assign behavior to external circumstances or situations.

Explanatory Style

A person's habitual way of explaining events, particularly in relation to causes.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own actions to situational factors while attributing others' actions to dispositional factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for others' behavior while underemphasizing situational ones.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes to external factors.

Internal Locus of Control

The belief that one has control over their own life and outcomes.

External Locus of Control

The belief that outside forces or fate control one's life and outcomes.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking of that stimulus.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief or expectation that influences a person's behavior in a way that leads to its fulfillment.

Mirror-Image Perceptions

Mutual views often held by conflicting parties where each sees itself as ethical and peaceful and the other as evil.

Social Comparison

The process of comparing oneself to others to evaluate personal abilities and opinions.

Relative Deprivation

The perception of being worse off compared to others, leading to feelings of inequality.

Attitude

A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

Stereotype

A generalized belief or assumption about a particular group of people.

Social Identity

The part of an individual's self-concept derived from their group memberships.

Cognitive Load

The total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory.

Prejudice

A prejudgment or unreasonable attitude towards a group, often involving negative feelings.

Discrimination

The unjust treatment of different categories of people, often based on race, age, or gender.

Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes that are unconscious and may differ from explicit attitudes the person expresses.

Just-World Phenomenon

The belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.

Outgroup

A social group with which an individual does not identify.

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

The perception that members of an outgroup are more similar to each other than they actually are.

Ingroup

A social group with which an individual identifies.

In-Group Bias

The tendency to favor one's own group over other groups.

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating other cultures according to the standards and values of one's own culture.

Scapegoat Theory

The theory that prejudice arises from the need to blame others for one's own problems.

Other-Race Effect

The tendency to recognize faces of one's own race better than those of other races.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency to hold on to one's beliefs even when evidence contradicts them.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.

Cognitive Dissonance

The discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting cognitions.

Role

A set of expectations about how to behave in a specific social position.

Social Norms

The accepted rules regarding a group's behavior.

Social Influence Theory

A theory that explains how individuals change their attitudes or behaviors in response to social pressure.

Normative Social Influence

The influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them.

Informational Social Influence

The influence of others that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information.

Persuasion

The process by which a person or group can influence others' beliefs or behaviors.

Central Route Persuasion

Persuasion that occurs when a person is persuaded by the content of the message.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Persuasion that occurs when a person is influenced by superficial cues rather than the actual message.

Halo Effect

The tendency for an impression created in one area to influence opinion in another area.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

A persuasion strategy that involves making a small request and following it with a larger request.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

A persuasion strategy where one makes a large request that is expected to be refused, followed by a smaller request.

Conformity

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms.

Obedience

The act of following orders or directives from an authority figure.