Module 4.1

Attributions

how people explain behavior and mental processes of themselves and others

Dispositional attributions

relate to internal qualities of others, things like intelligence or personality

Situational attributions

relate to external circumstances that are experienced

Explanatory style

how people explain good and bad events in their lives and in the lives of others; this style can be optimistic or pessimistic

actor/observer bias

the tendency for individuals acting in a situation to attribute the causes of their behavior to external or situational factors, such as social pressure, but for observers to attribute the same behavior to internal or dispositional factors, such as personality

Fundamental attribution error

he tendency to overestimate the degree to which an individual's behavior is determined by their abiding personal characteristics, attitudes, or beliefs and, correspondingly, to minimize the influence of the surrounding situation on that behavior (financial or social pressures)

Self serving bias

the tendency to interpret events in a way that assigns credit for success to oneself but denies one's responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external factors. The self-serving bias is regarded as a form of self-deception designed to maintain high self-esteem

Locus of control

a construct that is used to categorize people's basic motivational orientations and perceptions of how much control they have over the conditions of their lives

External locus of control

tend to behave in response to external circumstances and to perceive their life outcomes as arising from factors out of their control

Internal locus of control

tend to behave in response to internal states and intentions and to perceive their life outcomes as arising from the exercise of their own agency and abilities

Social comparison

type of person perception that occurs when people evaluate themselves based on comparisons to other members of society or social circles

Social comparison upward

comparing oneself with someone judged to be better than oneself (by having more wealth or material goods, higher social standing, greater physical attractiveness)

Social comparison downward

comparing oneself with someone judged to be not as good as oneself

Relative deprivation

the perception by an individual that the amount of a desired resource (e.g., money, social status) they have is less than some comparison standard

Personality psychology

the scientific study of personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disordered forms.

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Person perception

how we form impressions of ourselves and others, inclduing attributions of behavior

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude towards a group and its members. It often involves stereotypes and discrimination.

stereotype

a generalized belief about a group of people

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

implicit attitudes

unconscious, automatic evaluations (positive or negative) we hold about people, objects, or ideas, which we may not even be aware of but can significantly influence our behavior, judgments, and decisions without conscious control

scapegoat theory

the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

just world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just ant that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

Out-group homogeneity bias

“them”-those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

other race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races. Also called cross race effect and own-race bias

in group bias

“us”-people with whom we share a common identity

social identity

the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships