U4 Psych Part I (Attributions, Attitudes)

Attribution

explanations individuals create for the causes of behaviors and events.

• They help people understand and predict others' actions, as well as their own, by attributing causes to internal dispositions or external situations.

Dispositional Attributions

also known as internal attributions, assign the cause of behavior to inherent qualities, traits, or characteristics of the individual.

• If a colleague consistently meets deadlines, we might attribute their behavior to their diligence and strong work ethic.

Situational Attributions

The situation was the primary influence

•  If someone is late to a meeting, attributing their tardiness to heavy traffic or public transportation delays

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behaviors.

• Person > Env

• Observing a server being rude might lead to assuming they have a bad attitude (dispositional) rather than considering they might be under stress from a busy shift (situational).

Actor/Observer Bias

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own actions to situational factors, while attributing others' actions to dispositional factors.

• Me: Sit. ; Others: Person

• If a person cuts someone off in traffic, they might justify it by needing to get to an important appointment (situational), but if someone else cuts them off, they might think the other driver is reckless (dispositional).

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors, enhancing self-esteem and protecting the self-concept

• A student who gets a good grade on a test might attribute it to their intelligence and hard work (internal), but if they get a bad grade, they might blame the teacher's unfair questions or a noisy environment (external).

Explanatory Style

refers to how people habitually explain the causes of events.

Locus of Control

An individual's belief about the extent to which they have control over the events that affect their lives. 

Internal Locus of Control

Individuals believe that they have significant control over the outcomes of their actions. They attribute success or failure to their own efforts, skills, and abilities

• A student with an internal locus of control believes that their academic success is due to their hard work and study habits. They are likely to seek additional resources and put in extra effort to improve their grades.

External Locus of Control

 Individuals believe that external forces, such as luck, fate, or other people, primarily influence the outcomes of their actions.

• They feel that their lives are controlled by factors beyond their control. An employee with an external locus of control might attribute a promotion to favoritism rather than their own performance. As a result, they might not actively seek professional development opportunities or put in extra effort.

Mere Exposure Effect

Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases our preference for that thing

• E.g. you start becoming friends with someone who you initially didn’t know because you two sat near each other in a particular class.

Social Comparison Theory

The process of evaluating one's abilities, opinions, and attributes by comparing them to those of others

Downward Social Comparison:

Comparing to someone perceived as worse off, which can boost self-esteem

Relative Deprivation

the feeling of being worse off than others in a similar social context, leading to discontent, resentment, or frustration

Fraternalistic Relative Deprivation

the feeling that one's own social group (ingroup) is at a disadvantage compared to other groups, driving social change through collective action

Ingroup

“us”—people with whom we share a common identity…

Outgroup

“them”—those perceived as different or apart from our in-group…

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Where an individual's expectations about another person or situation influence their behavior toward that person or situation, leading the expected outcome to occur.

BELIEF PERSEVERANCE

-You hold a belief

-You reject / ignore contradictory evidence

-You retain your belief

• Passive Rejection

Confirmation Bias

-You hold a belief

-You seek out information that supports your belief

-Retain belief

• Active search for affirmation

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes, or when their beliefs are contradicted by their actions

Stereotype

False Assumptions or generalized beliefs about a group of people.

Prejudice

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members

Discrimination

the behavior or actions, often negative, directed towards an individual or group based on prejudice. It involves treating people unfairly because of their membership in a particular group.

Implicit Attitudes

unconscious, automatic evaluations towards a person, object, or concept that can differ from consciously held beliefs, or explicit attitudes

• unconscious, automatic evaluations towards a person, object, or concept that can differ from consciously held beliefs, or explicit attitudes

JUST-WORLD PHENOMENON

The cognitive bias that leads individuals to believe that the world is fair and that people get what they deserve.

• This belief can justify existing social inequalities and lead to victim blaming.

Victim Blaming

holding a victim responsible for the harm done to them, instead of the perpetrator

OUTGROUP HOMOGENEITY

Perceived uniformity of outgroup attitudes, personality, and appearance.  We tend to think that others, “them”, are all alike.

IN-GROUP BIAS

The tendency to favor one's own group and its members over other groups (out-groups)

Ethnocentrism

judging other cultures based on one's own cultural standards,

Cultural Relativism

Understanding and evaluating a culture on its own terms and in its own context