chapter 10: social thinking

Tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people's behavior.

Attribution theory

Causes that relate to the features of the person whose behavior is being considered.

Dispositional (internal) causes

Causes related to features of the surroundings or social context.

Situational (external) causes

Describes attributions made by observing the intentional (especially unexpected) behaviors performed by another person.

Correspondent inference theory

Bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions in regard to the actions of others.

Fundamental attribution error

Occurs when individuals must make judgments that are complex but instead substitute a simpler solution or heuristic.

Attribute substitution

Attributions are highly influenced by the culture in which one resides.

Cultural influence on attribution

Attitudes and impressions made based on limited and superficial information about a person or group.

Stereotypes

Process where stereotypes create conditions that lead to confirmation of the stereotype.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Concern or anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype about one's social group.

Stereotype threat

Irrational positive or negative attitude toward a person, group, or thing prior to an actual experience.

Prejudice

Practice of making judgments about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one's own culture.

Ethnocentrism

Recognition that social groups and cultures should be studied on their own terms.

Cultural relativism

When prejudicial attitudes cause individuals of a particular group to be treated differently from others.

Discrimination

One person discriminating against a particular person or group.

Individual discrimination

Discrimination against a particular person or group by an entire institution.

Institutional discrimination

Searching for and exploiting food resources.

Foraging

Describes the way in which a group is organized in terms of sexual behavior.

Mating system

Exclusive mating relationships.

Monogamy

Multiple exclusive relationships, including polygyny (multiple females) and polyandry (multiple males).

Polygamy

Mating without exclusivity.

Promiscuity

Selection of a mate based on attraction and traits.

Mate choice (intersexual selection)

Helping behavior in which people's intent is to benefit someone else at some cost to themselves.

Altruism

Explains decision making between individuals as if they are participating in a game.

Game theory

Measure of an organism's success in the population based on offspring, support of offspring, and ability of offspring to support others.

Inclusive fitness

Way by which we generate impressions about people in our social environment; involves perceiver, target, and situation.

Social perception (social cognition)

People make assumptions about how different types of people, their traits, and their behavior are related.

Implicit personality theory

First impressions are more important than subsequent impressions.

Primacy effect

Most recent information we have about an individual is most important in forming impressions.

Recency effect

Tendency to organize perception of others based on traits and personal characteristics that matter to the perceiver.

Reliance on central traits

Judgments of an individual's character can be affected by the overall impression of the individual.

Halo effect

Tendency to believe that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.

Just-world hypothesis

Individuals view their own successes as based on internal factors and failures as based on external factors.

Self-serving bias

What makes people like each other; influenced by physical attractiveness, similarity, self-disclosure, reciprocity, and proximity.

Interpersonal attraction

Physical, verbal, or nonverbal behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase social dominance.

Aggression

Emotional bond to another person, usually between child and caregiver.

Attachment

Requires a consistent caregiver; child explores knowing there is a secure base; strong preference for caregiver.

Secure attachment

Caregiver has little or no response to a distressed child; child shows no preference for caregiver compared to strangers.

Avoidant attachment

Caregiver has inconsistent response; child distressed when caregiver leaves and ambivalent upon return.

Ambivalent attachment

Caregiver is erratic or abusive; child shows no clear pattern and may exhibit repetitive behaviors.

Disorganized attachment

Perception or reality that one is cared for by a social network.

Social support

Listening to, affirming, and empathizing with someone's feelings.

Emotional support

Affirms the qualities and skills of the person.

Esteem support

Providing physical or monetary resources to aid a person.

Material support

Providing useful information to a person.

Informational support

Providing a sense of belonging to a person.

Network support