Social Psychology: Social Self, Social Cognition, and Attributions

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from social psychology lecture notes on self-concept, self-esteem, social cognition, heuristics, and attributions.

Physical Self-Concept

Physical qualities that do not imply social interaction (e.g., "I am a female", "I am a brunette", "I am tall").

Social Self-Concept

Social roles, institutional memberships, or other important identity/cultural groups (e.g., "I am a college student", "I am a daughter", "I am Dominican").

Attribute Self-Concept

Psychological or physiological states or traits (e.g., "I am intelligent", "I am caring", "I am tired").

Global Self-Concept

Broad or vague self-descriptions that do not distinguish you from other people (e.g., "I am a human being", "I am alive", "I am me").

Independent Culture

Individualistic cultural orientation (common in US, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, higher social class) where individuals view the self as a distinct entity with voluntary social bonds and stable attributes.

Interdependent Culture

Collectivistic cultural orientation (common in Asia, Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, working class) where individuals view the self as inextricably linked to others, emphasizing social roles, obligations, and situation-dependent attributes.

Independent View of Self

A model of self-construal where the self is bounded and separated from others, defined primarily by personal attributes and traits.

Interdependent View of Self

A model of self-construal where boundaries between self and close others are permeable, and identity is largely defined by social relationships and roles.

"Better-Than-Average" Effect

The tendency to overestimate our positive abilities and traits and underestimate negative ones, associated with good mental health and self-esteem.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

A cognitive phenomenon where individuals with less expertise in a domain overrate their knowledge or skills because they lack the expertise needed to recognize their mistakes.

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

A 10-item self-report measure developed in 1979 to evaluate overall positive or negative attitudes toward oneself using a 4-point rating scale.

Self-Esteem

The overall positive or negative evaluation you have of yourself, shaped by contingencies of self-worth, sociometer theory, and social identities.

Contingencies of Self-Worth

Domains of life in which a person's evaluation of their successes or failures directly affects their self-esteem.

Sociometer Theory

A theory proposing that self-esteem functions as a psychological gauge monitoring how well one is accepted into a social group.

Social Identity Theory

A theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) stating that group identification is an important source of self-esteem through positive distinctiveness, basking in reflected glory, and ingroup favorability.

Positive Distinctiveness

Focusing on what is unique and positive about your ingroup relative to outgroups to elevate group status and personal self-esteem.

Basking in Reflected Glory

Experiencing an increase in self-esteem and pride when your ingroup achieves success or performs well.

Social Cognition

The subfield of psychology focusing on how people think about, interpret, and make decisions regarding people and social situations.

Controlled Processes

Mental operations that are conscious, effortful, purposeful, and require active cognitive resources.

Automatic Processes

Mental operations occurring outside of consciousness that are relatively effortless, habitual, and function like "mental autopilot".

Prototype

The most "typical" example of a category or schema that contains many associated characteristics of that category.

Schema

An organized knowledge structure containing general information and characteristics about a category of people or events.

Person Schemas

Knowledge structures that organize expectations and characteristics regarding specific types of individuals (e.g., professors, introverts, Rhode Islanders).

Event Schemas (Scripts)

Knowledge structures that outline expected sequences of events and behaviors in specific situations (e.g., restaurant dining, driving, fire alarms).

Gender Schemas

Socially constructed knowledge structures regarding social expectations, traits, interests, and emotional norms associated with gender categories.

Priming

The activation of specific schemas or mental associations through exposure to environmental cues, influencing subsequent thought and interpretation.

Decision Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that enable fast, efficient information processing and decision-making.

Availability Heuristic

Estimating the likelihood or frequency of an event based on how easily examples or memories of it come to mind.

Anchoring Heuristic

A cognitive bias where judgements or estimations are disproportionately influenced by an initial starting value (anchor).

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate how much others share our opinions, traits, and behaviors due to social filter bubbles and selective interaction.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out and favor information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring or avoiding opposing evidence.

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes ("what might have been"), particularly when an alternative result was close to happening.

Causal Attributions

The explanations or causes assigned to explain why an event occurred or why someone behaved in a particular way.

Internal (Dispositional) Attribution

Explaining behavior as caused by factors inherent to the person (e.g., personality, ability), treated as stable and controllable.

External (Situational) Attribution

Explaining behavior as caused by environmental or situational factors, treated as temporary and uncontrollable.

Kelley's Covariation Model

An attribution framework stating that people determine internal or external causes of behavior using three types of information: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency.

Consensus

In Kelley's covariation model, the degree to which other people react or behave in the same way in the given situation.

Distinctiveness

In Kelley's covariation model, the degree to which an individual acts differently in this specific situation compared to other different situations.

Consistency

In Kelley's covariation model, the degree to which an individual repeatedly displays the same behavior in similar situations across time.

Fundamental Attribution Error (Correspondence Bias)

The tendency to attribute other people's behavior to internal dispositional traits while underestimating external situational causes.

Self-Serving Bias

The pattern of attributing one's own negative behaviors/failures to external situational causes and one's positive behaviors/successes to internal dispositional factors.

Perceptual Salience

The degree to which an object or person stands out visually or cognitively, leading observers to attribute causality to the prominent focal stimulus.

Just World Hypothesis

The defensive belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve, providing a sense of control but often leading to victim-blaming.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Attributions

Research comparing dispositional and situational attributions between the U.S. and India, showing that U.S. adults make far more dispositional attributions, whereas Indian adults make far more situational attributions.