ch 16 attitudes and bias Flashcards
actor-observer bias
the tendency to explain our own actions by external factors, and explain the actions of others by internal factors
attitude
a learnt, stable and relatively enduring evaluation of a person, object, event or idea that can affect an individual’s behaviour
attitude specificity
attitudes and behaviours are more likely to be congruent when the attitude is highly specific to the behaviour
attribution
inferences we make about the causes of events or behaviours in order to understand social experiences
bias
an opinion or belief held about a thing or person
cognitive dissonance
the theory that emphasises a person will feel uncomfortable and try to maintain an internal consistency and agreement between their beliefs and behaviours by altering beliefs to match behaviours
confirmation bias
tendency to search for, recall and interpret information to suit already-held beliefs
dispositional attribution
the assumption that behaviour is due to internal or personal factors
effort justification
a special case of cognitive dissonance where the inconsistency experiences make the person go to considerable effort to justify the achievement of a relatively modest goal
fundamental attribution error
when people place too much emphasis on dispositional attribution, and too little emphasis on situational attribution
in-group
a group of people with a shared interest, identity or beliefs
out-group
people or groups that exist outside of someone else’s group
self-serving bias
a tendency to view ourselves more favourably than others in the same position
situational attribution
the assumption that behaviour is due to environmental or external factors
social categorisation
assembling similar objects and people so that we are able to identify and understand
