AP Psychology: Unit 9

attribution theory

suggests that there are 2 ways that our brain seeks to explain an individuals behavior: personality OR circumstances

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to overestimate the impact of an individual’s lasting personality and underestimate the impact of their circumstances on their behavior

just-world hypothesis

suggests that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people

self-serving bias

when an individual attributes their success to themself but blames their failures on other things or people

halo effect

when someone believes that an individual is good, they’ll believe that everything that individual does is good-intentioned and fail to recognize the bad things

self-fulfilling prophecy

suggests that the way we behave is dictated by both our own and others’ attributions and expectations

elaboration-likelihood model

suggests that there are 2 ways of persuasion

central route persuasion

offers logical evidence and arguments that aim to trigger favorable thoughts about an idea

peripheral route persuasion

offers irrelevant evidence that seems credible in order to trigger favorable thoughts about an idea

informational social influence

when an individual conforms due to the belief that the group is smarter and therefore wants to be accurate

normative social influence

when an individual conforms due to the desire of fitting in

automatic mimicry

when an individual unconsciously mimics the expressions, postures, and voice tones of another to increase empathy

groupthink

when individuals suppress personal opinions in an attempt to preserve the collective opinion of the group

self-concept

an individual’s global feeling of themself