Chapter 4- Social Perception

Question 1

Define/Explain: Covariation Model of Attribution

Answer 1

An attribution theory proposing that we make causal judgements by determining whether a particular behaviour correlated with a person, a situation, or some combination of persons and situations.

Question 2

Define: Attributions

Answer 2

Causal judgements about why an event or behaviour occurred.

Question 3

True/False: The causal judgement we make about another person’s behaviour influences how we
behave toward him or her.

Answer 3

True: The causal judgement we make about another person’s behaviour influences how we
behave toward him or her.

Question 4

Define/Explain: False Consensus Effect

Answer 4

The tendency to assume that other people share our own attitudes and behaviours to a greater extent than is actually the case.

Question 5

Mary tends to interact mainly with other people who
agree with her attitudes and behaviours. She wants to believe that others agree with her attitudes and behaviours. What false tendency might she have?

Answer 5

She might have the tendency to use the False Consensus Effect in her thinking, which is: the tendency to assume that other people share her attitudes and behaviours to a greater extent than is actually the case.

Question 6

Define/Explain: Discounting Principle of Attribution

Answer 6

A rule of attribution that states that the perceived role of a cause will be discounted (reduced) if other plausible causes are also present (from our knowledge of ‘plausible causes’ in that situation).

Question 7

Define/Explain: Augmentation Principle of Attribution

Answer 7

A rule of attribution that states that the perceived role of a cause will be augmented (increased) if other factors are present that would work against the behaviour (from our knowledge of ‘plausible causes’ in that situation).

Question 8

Define: Correspondence Bias

Answer 8

The tendency to assume that people’s actions and words reflect/correspond to their personality, their attitudes, or some other internal factor, rather than external or situational factors.

Question 9

Why is it that people in Western cultures fall into using Correspondence Bias?

Answer 9

It is possible that their emphasis on individualism causes people from Western cultures to focus on internal, personal variables like personality traits, attitudes,
and values when explaining behaviour.

Question 10

Define: Nonverbal Behaviour

Answer 10

Actions and cues that communicate meaning in ways other than by words. They typically add more information to the words being given, ex. in judging the emotion of the speaker.

Question 11

When verbal and nonverbal cues directly conflict, which will observers rely more on?

Answer 11

They will rely more on the nonverbal cues in interpreting the messages meaning. Ex. Fake compliments

Question 12

True/False: Nonverbal cues are completely under voluntary control.

Answer 12

False. One of the reasons nonverbal cues are seen as informative about true feelings is that they are not completely under voluntary control.

Question 13

True/False: People from a wide variety of cultures can recognize facial expressions of 7 basic emotions.

Answer 13

True. Findings supports Darwin’s argument that facial expressions of certain fundamental emotions are biologically based and mostly similar in all cultures.

Question 14

Define: Display Rules

Answer 14

Norms in a culture for how and when emotions should be expressed. Ex, differences in how close or far apart individuals should stand.

Question 15

What are the display rules in Japan concerning showing strong emotions?

Answer 15

It is considered inappropriate in Japan to show strong emotions, especially strong negative emotions

Question 16

Define: Looking Glass Self

Answer 16

The tendency to internalize other people’s judgments about us into our self-concept.

Question 17

Define/Explain: Social Comparison

Answer 17

The process of comparing ourselves to others in order to judge the self.

Question 18

Define: Upward Social Comparison

Answer 18

Social comparison with people who are better off or

more skilled than we are.

Question 19

Define: Downward Social Comparison

Answer 19

Social comparison with people who are worse off or less skilled than we are.

Question 20

Which type of social comparison tends to make us feel better about ourselves? (Upwards/Downwards)

Answer 20

Results showed that when participants engaged in social comparison to feel better about themselves, they usually compared themselves to someone who was worse off than themselves.

Question 21

Which type of social comparison can lead to ‘relative deprivation(A negative effect of anger and resentment)? (Upwards/Downwards)

Answer 21

Upward comparisons can sometimes make us angry and resentful, if we think that we should be doing as well as other people who are better off.

Question 22

Define: Relative Deprivation

Answer 22

A feeling of anger or resentment about out outcomes based on upward social comparisons with better-off others.

Question 23

An Asian Canadian and a European Canadian both fail a test. Which is more likely to have negative social comparison as a result of failure and why?

Answer 23

The Asian Canadian, because people from collectivist cultures are more motivated to improve themselves than are people from individualist cultures. This heightened desire for self-improvement leads people from collectivist cultures to engage in more social comparison, especially after poor performance.

Question 24

Define: Self-Perception Theory

Answer 24

A theory proposing that we often judge our own internal states (attitudes, like/dislikes, etc) by reviewing our past behaviour and inferring internal states consistent with our behaviour unless there were clear external causes of our behaviour.

Question 25

Define/Explain: Over-Justification Effect

Answer 25

An inference that we performed a potentially enjoyable activity for external reasons rather than because we enjoy it.

Question 26

Will intrinsic or extrinsic motivation occur when people have feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence?

Answer 26

Intrinsic motivation will occur when people have feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence.

Question 27

Define: Bias Blind Spot

Answer 27

The tendency to think that biases and errors in judgments are more common in others than in ourselves.

Question 28

Define: Unrealistic Optimism

Answer 28

We unrealistically optimistic/predict an unrealistically rosy future for ourselves because, are threatened by the possibility of negative life events and think that we deserve it because we are good people.

Question 29

Are Unrealistic Self-Evaluation and Unrealistic Optimism Adaptive or Maladaptive?

Answer 29

Maladaptive, because the more accurately we see ourselves, the more effectively we should be able to deal with the world.

Question 30

Define: Self-Efficacy

Answer 30

The belief that we are capable of performing a particular behaviour that is required for a certain goal.

Question 31

Is it possible to persist without self-efficacy?

Answer 31

Lack of self-efficacy almost guarantees that the goal will not be achieved, because when people doubt that they can perform a behaviour, they are less likely to attempt it and are less likely to persist in the face of obstacles or
failure.

Question 32

Define: Illusion of Control

Answer 32

The tendency to overestimate our control of situations and events. A form of self-enhancing that could potentially have either adaptive or maladaptive consequences.

Question 33

Define: False Hope Syndrome

Answer 33

The tendency to try repeatedly but unsuccessfully to achieve a goal because of unrealistic expectations about the likelihood of success (too much self-efficacy).

Question 34

Define: Learned Helplessness

Answer 34

A state of apathy in which we simply give up trying to

achieve our goals. One possible cause of depression.

Question 35

Define/Explain: Self-Discrepancy Theory

Answer 35

A theory proposing that perceived differences between the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self produce emotional consequences.

Question 36

Define: Impression Management

Answer 36

The deliberate control of one’s public behaviour to create a certain impression, aka Self-Presentation. The two main goals of which are to appear likeable (ingratiation) and to appear competent (self-promotion).

Question 37

Define: Self-Handicapping

Answer 37

The tendency to seek, create, or claim inhibitory factors that interfere with performance and thus provide an explanation for potential failure.

Question 38

Define: Actor-Observer Difference

Answer 38

A pattern of differences in attributions in which actors tend to make external attributions for their own behaviour, whereas observers tend to make internal attributions for the same actions.