4.1 & 4.2: Attribution theory, person perception, and attitude

Stereotypes

A set of characteristics believed to be shared by all members of a social category regardless of individual traits.

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, using heuristic thinking, schemas, and prototypes.

Attributions

How we explain behavior and mental processes to ourselves and others.

Situational (external) attribution

Crediting the situation or environment for a behavior and outcome.

Dispositional (internal) attribution

Crediting the disposition or personal traits for a behavior and outcome.

Fundamental attribution error (FAE)

Our tendency, when analyzing others, to underestimate the situation and overestimate personal disposition.

Actor-observer bias

Our tendency to make attributions based on whether we are the actor (attributing our own behavior to the situation) or the observer (attributing others' behavior to disposition).

Social comparison theory

The theory that we evaluate our own opinions and abilities by comparing ourselves to others.

Upward social comparison

Comparing yourself to someone you see as better or superior.

Relative deprivation

The feeling of being worse off compared to others by comparing your own situation to a group seen as better off.

Downward social comparison

Comparing yourself to someone you see as worse off than you.

Just-world phenomenon

The tendency of people to believe the world is just and people get what they deserve (karma).

Victim blaming

Explaining others' misfortunes as being their fault.

Prejudice

An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members, involving negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Racism

The belief that members of a certain ethnic or racial group are inferior.

Discrimination

Unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group and its members.

Ingroup vs. outgroup bias

The tendency to favor our own group more than other groups.

Outgroup homogeneity bias

The tendency to view members of an external group as identical.

Other-race effect

The tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races.

Scapegoat theory

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

Ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures according to the perceptions of our own culture.

Belief perseverance

Occurs when a belief persists even if evidence suggests it's not accurate (often reinforced by confirmation bias).

Cognitive dissonance

An inner drive to hold attitudes or beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony.

Mere exposure effect

A psychological bias where people develop a positive preference following repeated exposure and familiarity.