Cognition Adjustment

Cognition Adjustment

  • cognition is mental activity
  • understanding, analyzing

Making Attributions: we make guesses about the cause of people's behavior

  • why someone does what they do
  • there are ==2 major types of attributions:==
  1. ==Internal Attributions==@@:@@ you decided that the cause of the person's behavior is the person themselves: personality, character, choice
  2. ==Situational Attribution==: you decided the cause of the personal behavior is because they have something going on: circumstances, environmental
  • the more accurate the attributable is the better

We make more attributions more when:

  1. people's behaviors is unusual or unexpected
  2. when the behavior is negative
  3. We use first impressions

Fundamental attribution error (FAE):

  • In making attributions about others we tend to overestimate initial facts

Implications:

Those who have negative behaviors a spouse to internal causes are more likely to be unhappy in their marriage

Opposite

People who attribute negative behavior to external causes. You are more accepting and loving to your spouse and are happier in their marriage.

Just World Belief

Assumption 1: life is fair. I'm a really good person.

So conclusion would be nothing really bad will happen to me

Problem: The just world belief leads to blaming the victim.

  • This is why people have a negative attitude towards homeless people. They think its their fault it is homeless. There are instances that are correct but not all the time.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

  1. Definition: prediction that is false but that produces behavior that makes it comes true
  • Failure doesn't make you a failure