Unit 4: Attribution and Person Perception

attribution

the way in which people assign responsibility for certain outcomes

dispositional attribution

assumes that the cause of a behavior or outcome is internal (individual attrib.)

situational attribution

assumes that the cause of behavior is because of the environmental or external conditions

explanatory style

how people explain good and bad events that happen to themselves and others (optimistic or pessimistic)

self-serving bias

sees the cause of actions as internal (dispositional) when the outcomes are positive, and external (situational) when the results are negative

fundamental attribution error

people are more likely to overestimate the role of dispositional attribs. and to underestimate the role of the situation

actor-observer bias

when person behaves badly themselves, attribute their bad behavior to the situation, vs when someone else behaves badly, attribute the behavior to character/disposition

locus of control

belief that you have control over events

mere exposure effect

people tend to prefer people and experiences that are familiar

self-fulfilling prophecy

when a person initially has a false belief about a situation, which evokes a new behavior, which makes the false belief become true (Rosenthal Effect)

social comparison theory

Leon Festinger’s theory that perception can affect one’s self-esteem based on who we compare ourselves to

relative deprivation

when a person evaluates themselves based on what others have that they don’t