Attribution Style

Question 1

What internal states drive attribution style?

Answer 1

1. Culture or cultural perceptions
2. Emotion or transient states
3. Personality traits
4. Prejudices, biases and preconceptions.

Question 2

What are the three attribution errors?

Answer 2

1. Fundamental attribution error
2. Self-serving bias
3. Spotlight effect

Question 3

Who are the two main theorists of the FAE?

Answer 3

Heider and Miller

Question 4

What was Heiders FAE theory?

Answer 4

Naive psychology: dispositional (internal) attribution is strong this leads to the FAE or SSB even though minority of the population are better than average.

Question 5

What was Miller’s FAE theory?

Answer 5

He presented a task for rating others on degree of true extraversion/introversion (both stable personality traits)
Participants of study were rated higher dependent upon random allocations.
Displays the irrationality of humans.

Question 6

What other examples show millers irrationality of humans?

Answer 6

Sanford prison experiment.
Teachers and eye colour.

Conclude that randomly assigning roles to people will determine their behaviour.

Question 7

Explain the Jeremy Paxman effect

Answer 7

Jeremy Paxman is rated as more intelligent than contestants depute him having the answers in front of him.

Question 8

Who propose the Jeremy Paxman effect?

Answer 8

Ross et al. (1977)

Question 9

Explain the Self Serving Bias.

Answer 9

Better than average effect. Personal success and met expectations are attributed to internal influences. Personal failure and violated expectations are attributed to external factors.

The success of others is a situations attribution whereas the failure of others is their internal attribution.

Question 10

What considerations are there for Henrich’s positive self-view?

Answer 10

Considered fundamental to human psychology.
Represents a small percentage of the population.
Non-western populations score lower.
East asians show non or reversed i.e. a self-effacing bias.

Question 11

What is the just-world hypothesis?

Answer 11

The belief that good things happen to good people, it is a related hypothesis or concept.
‘what goes around comes around’

Question 12

What is the spotlight effect?

Answer 12

Individuals overestimate how much others are paying attention to their appearance and behaviour.

Question 13

How did Gilovich et al show the spotlight effect?

Answer 13

Barry Manilow t-shirt experiment.
Participants wearing an embarrassing t-shirt believed that 50% of their peers noticed in comparison to the 20 that actually did.
Participants eating a flattering t-shirt correctly estimated the 20% that notices their t-shirt.

Question 14

Explain the Optimism bias.

Answer 14

Belief that positive event happen to me more and negative events happen to me less than others.

Question 15

Who are the two theorists of the optimism bias?

Answer 15

Taylor and Roesch.

Question 16

What did Taylor’s 2002 study of the optimism bias show?

Answer 16

Event when presented with accurate divorce statistics newly weds will predict their marriage to last a life time.

Question 17

Was did Roesch’s 1997 study of optimism bias show?

Answer 17

Smokers believe themselves to be less likely to get lung cancer than other smokers.

Question 18

What are the consequences of the optimism bias?

Answer 18

Increased risk taking because it will never happen to me.
Insufficient preventative methods.
Poor planning.

Question 19

Explain the pessimism bias.

Answer 19

Over-estimation of the likelihood of negative events happening to me.

Question 20

Who shows pessimism bias most?

Answer 20

People suffering from depression or anxiety, more so than normally functioning adults.

Question 21

What did Seligman propose people who show the pessimism bias have?

Answer 21

A learned helplessness (1967)

They feel powerless to change a situation.

Question 22

Who shows the most depression or anxiety?

Answer 22

Countries operated by a foreign force. (External attribution)
It is a stable dispositional attribution (Internal attribution)

Question 23

What are the consequences of the pessimism bias?

Answer 23

Optimism bias goes down because bad things always happen to them.
SSB: they believe themselves to be worse than average.

Question 24

Can we change attribution styles by increasing self-esteem, self-efficacy?

Answer 24

Durgin 2011
Altering perception of a hill slope and probably to reach the top.
Basic perceptions change given situation; backpacks, glucose etc.
Psychological support changes perception; being with a friend.