Chapter 5 Flashcards
Social Attribution: explaining behaviour
Defined attribution theory .
A set of concepts explaining how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects of peoples causal assessments
Define the term causal attribution
Linking an event to cause such as inferring that her personality trait is responsible for behavior
Define the term explanatory style
A person’s habitual way of explaining events, typically assessed along the three dimensions: internal and external, stable and unstable, end global And specific
What is the difference internal and external
Due do something about them we’re something about other people or circumstances
What is the difference between stable and unstabe
will be present again in the future or not
What is the difference between Global and specific
Something that influences other areas of their lives or just this one
The tendency to explain negative events in terms of internal stable and global causes is considered what kind of explanatory style
Negative or pessimistic
How can people make future success more likely
People believe they can exert control over events they formerly believed to be beyond their control stores hope and unleashes the kind of productive energy that makes future success more likely
Research shows that boys are more likely the girls to attribute their failures to lack of effort and girls are more likely than boys to attribute their failures to what
Lack of ability
When do internal and external causes become tricky to determine
We might say that someone became a rock’n roll guitarist because of a deep love for the instrument[Internal cause] or because of the desire for fame and fortune[External costs] but aren’t love of the instrument and desire for fame both interstates? And if so why is the love of playing guitar considered an internal cause where as the desire for fame and fortune is considered in external cause? The answer is that loving to play the guitar is not something shared by everyone or even most people so what tells us something characteristic and informative about the person. On the other hand many people find the prospect of fame attractive
What is the covariation principle
The idea that behavior should be attributed to potential causes that occur along with the observed behavior
We try to determine what the cause– internal or external– ‘covary’ with the observation or effect we are trying to explain
Psychologists believe that three types of covariation information are particularly significant what are they
Consensus, distinctiveness, consistency
What is Consensus
I type of covariation information cool and what most people would do any given situation; that is whether most people would behave the same way, or a few or no other people would behave that way
The more the individual’s reactions it Is shared by others the less it says about the individual and more about the situation
What is distinctiveness
I type of covariation information: what an individual does in different situations; that is whether the behavior is unique to a particular situation or occurs in all situations
The more someone’s reaction is confined to particular situation (distinctiveness is high) the less it says about the individual and the more it says about the specific situation
What is consistency
I type of covariation information: what an individual does in a given situation on different locations; that is same circumstances the person will behave the same or differently
The more an individual’s reaction varies across occasions (when consistency is low) the harder it is to make a defined attribution either the person or the situation
What is a situational attribution
Putting the three types of covariation information together, this is called for when consensus, distinctiveness and consistency are all high
This means that the situation is special
What is dispositional attribution
When consensus and distinctiveness are low but consistency is high this means it reflects something about the person
Defined the term discounting principle
The idea that people should assign reduced weight to a particular cause of behavior and other possible causes might have produced it
For example if somebody is very happy interview you cannot assume that they are always happy because everybody acts like that in that situation
Define the term augmentation principal
The idea that people should assign a greater weight to a particular cause okay behavior in other causes are present that’s normally would produce a different outcome
For example if somebody advocates position despite being threatened with torture for doing so, we can safely conclude that the person truly believes in that position
Define the term counterfactual thought
Thoughts on what might have, could have or should have happened ‘if only’ something had occurred differently
What is the emotional amplification
An increase in An emotional reaction to an event that is proportional to how easy it is to imagine events not happening
People are often more sad when they change something last minute and a bad outcome happens
What is self serving attribution bias
The tendency to attribute failure and other bad events to external circumstances and attributes success and other good events to oneself
The self-serving attributional bias, then, is a motivational bias as it is motivated to maintain self-esteem is this true
Things are not so simple. Even a completely rational person, unaffected by motivations to feel good, might make the same pattern attributions and be justified in doing so. After all, when we try to succeed at something, any success is usually at least partly due to our efforts and thus warrants our taking some of the credit. Failure on the other hand usually occurs despite our efforts and therefore requires looking elsewhere, perhaps externally, for its cause
Define the term fundamental attribution error
The failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behavior, and the corresponding tendency to over emphasize the importance of dispositions on behavior
Basically there seems to be persuasive tendency to see peoples behavior as a reflection of the kind people they are, rather than as a result of the situation they find themselves in
