Judging and percieving others

Question 1

person perception definition

Answer 1

refers to the different mental processes used to understand and form impressions of other people (whether they like it or not)

Question 2

recall the two types of information that determines our person perception

Answer 2

1. Directly
2. Indirectly

Question 3

define directly (person perception)

Answer 3

informed provided from the person we are judging e.g through conserving them or interacting with them

Question 4

define indirectly (person perception)

Answer 4

through hearing about the person we are judging from another person or source e.g through a friend or reading about someone online

Question 5

define first impressions

Answer 5

a type of person perception, and are usuallt based on very little information. While long lasting, first impressions tend to be made in less than a second

Question 6

define attribution

Answer 6

an evaluation made about the causes of behaviour and the process of making this evaluation. We can say we have made an attribution once and have decided on a potential cause for our own or someone elses actions.

Question 7

recall the two types of attribution

Answer 7

1. Internal (personal)
2. External (situational)

Question 8

define internal attribution

Answer 8

occurs when we judge behaviour as being caused by something personal within an individual. Include judging behaviour as the result of someones; psychological state, age, gender, intellect, motivation, ability, desire, past behaviour.

Question 9

define external attribution

Answer 9

occurs when we determine the cause of a behaviour as resulting from situational factors occurring outside the individual. Include the environment of a person in when they produce a behaviour, and the events that the individual has experienced beyond their control.

Question 10

define three steps of the cognitive process of attribution (with examples)

Answer 10

1. Observation of an outward act of behaviour
   e.g a person sees someone running down a busy street.
2. Conscious determination of acknowledgment of the behaviour.
   e.g a person actively decise the behaviour they observed was someone running down a busy street.
3. Attribute causes to this observed behaviour
   e.g a person infers that the cause of the other person running down the busy street is that they are disorganised and running late.

Question 11

recall the three types of attribution bias

Answer 11

1. Fundamental attribution error
2. Actor observer bias
3. Self serving bias

Question 12

define fundamental attribution error

Answer 12

refers to our tendency to explain other peoples behaviors in terms of internal factors, while ignoring possible external factors. This can lead to cognitive bias, and have an effect on how we perceive that individual overall.
- When we focus on these internal factors, we tend to do so with a perspective that the world is a just and fair place.
- when something bad happens to someone, we tend to believe that the victim must have done something to deserve their fate rather than believe the situational factors that were responsible for it.

Question 13

define the just world belief

Answer 13

refers to the belief that the world is a just place in which people generally get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Question 14

define actor observer bias

Answer 14

refers to our tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external or situational factors, yet attribute others behaviours to internal factors.

Question 15

define self serving bias

Answer 15

when judging ourselves we tend to take the credit for our successes and deny responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external, situational factors.

Question 16

describe the effects of attributions on our future actions

Answer 16

the type of attributions we make can have significant impacts on our future behaviour toward ourselves and other people. This often depends on whether we have used an internal or external attribution.

Question 17

define attributional style

Answer 17

the tendencies and repeated patterns in the way someone makes attributions

Question 18

attitudes definition

Answer 18

refer to an evaluation of something, such as a person, object, event or idea. An attitude can be positive, negative or neutral.
- The attitudes we hold and their relative strength are informed by a range of factors, including our prior knowledge and unique experiences

Question 19

describe how attitudes are formed

Answer 19

can be formed through direct experience, such as through personal contact with an event, object or person. They can also be formed through indirect experience, such as through exposure to media or through contact with others who hold specific attitudes.

Question 20

recall the three criteria for attitude formation

Answer 20

1. The attitude must be an evaluation of something
2. The attitude must be settled and stabled
3. The attitude must be learnt through experience

Question 21

explain the attitude must be an evaluation of something

Answer 21

attitudes inherently involve an evaluation or assessment of something. Attitudes should generally be able to be placed towards something along a continuum, ranging from negative, to neutral, to positive.

Question 22

explain the attitude must be settled and stable

Answer 22

the attitude must be relatively settled and stable. This does not mean that our attitudes cannot change, but just that they are often relatively permanent.

Question 23

explain the attitude must be learnt through experience

Answer 23

as with many processes of social cognition, holding an attitude is something that we mostly learn through experience. Once learnt, our attitudes help us navigate through our social world in beneficial, safe, and appropriate ways.

Question 24

recall the three parts of the tri-component model of attitude

Answer 24

1. Affective
2. Behavioural
3. Cognitive

Question 25

define affective

Answer 25

refers to our emotions and intuitive feelings towards something, reflected in our attitude.
- can think of it as the automatic feeling you get when presented with something. These feelings can range across a continuum.

Question 26

define behavioural

Answer 26

describes our outward and observable actions that reflect our point of view about something.
- when we hold an attitude we can often act in accordance with that attitude. However, our behaviour is not always consistent with our feelings and thoughts.

Question 27

define cognitive

Answer 27

involves our thoughts and beliefs towards something
- comprises the more matter-of-fact, emotion-free and objective thoughts about something.

Question 28

define stereotype

Answer 28

a widely held belief and generalization about a group such a people, animals, or objects. It is a generalisation that all members in that group will share the same characteristics, despite their individuality.

Question 29

recall the four main reasons of why stereotypes can be helpful

Answer 29

1. allow us to percieve others and make sense of the social world by applying simplified characteristics to all members of a group and category of people.
2. can keep us safe, by allowing individuals to potentially judge someone and whether they are a threat or not.
3. allow us to act appropriately socially
4. makes person perception more efficient

Question 30

recall the five main problems with stereotypes

Answer 30

1. Often lead to oversimplified and inaccurate judgments of individual people within those groups
2. most stereotypes are negative rather than positive and can be offensive.
3. when we apply stereotypes to people, we ignore their individuality and uniqueness.
4. stereotypes tend to be fixed and resistant to change as individuals are more inclined to pay attention to information that is consistant with a stereotype and ignore information that is inconsistant.
5. can lead to social stigmas leading to feelings of shame, disgrace, lower self-esteem, lost of self-confidence and restricted ambitions in life.

Question 31

social stigma meaning

Answer 31

negative labels and attitudes associated with disapproval or rejection by others who are not labelled in that way.

Question 32

cognitive dissonance definition

Answer 32

the psychological tension that occurs when our thoughts, feelings and/or behaviours do not align with one another. Often occurs when we act in a way that contradicts our beliefs.

Question 33

inconsistences between thoughts, feelings and behaviour only cause cognitive dissonance under certain circumstances. These include:

Answer 33

1. If you were aware of the potential consequences and the inconsistency of your behaviour when you decided to undertake the behaviour
2. You cannot sufficiently justify when you performed the behaviour

Question 34

recall the two ways you can reduce cognitive dissonance

Answer 34

1. Changing your thoughts to align with your behaviour
2. Changing your behaviour to align with your thoughts

Question 35

define cognitive bias

Answer 35

unconscious, systematic tendencies to interpret information in a way that is neither rational nor based on objective reality. Instead of following logic, individuals distort information to think about it in a way that is preferable to them, thereby avoiding or reducing cognitive dissonance.

Question 36

recall the five types of cognitive bias

Answer 36

1. Confirmation bias
2. Halo effect
3. False-consensus bias
4. Self-serving bias
5. Actor-observer bias

Question 37

define confirmation bias

Answer 37

the tendency to search for and accept information that supports our prior beliefs or behaviours and ignore contradictory information

Question 38

define the halo effect

Answer 38

the tendecy for the impression we form about one quality of a person to influence our overall beliefs about the person in other respects

Question 39

define false-consensus bias

Answer 39

the tendency to overestimate the degree to which other people share the same ideas and attitudes as we do

Question 40

define self-serving bias

Answer 40

the tendency to attribute positive success to our internal character and actions and attribute our failures to external factors or situational causes

Question 41

define actor observer bias

Answer 41

the tendency to attribute our own actions to external factors and situational causes while attributing other peoples actions to internal factors.

Question 42

Outline three factors that influence the level of dissonance that a person might experience at any given time

Answer 42

• type of belief, in which more personal beliefs lead to greater dissonance
• value of beliefs, in which beliefs that people value more cause greater dissonance
• level of conflict, in which a greater conflict between beliefs causes greater dissonance.

Question 43

heuristics definition

Answer 43

information-processing strategies or ‘mental shortcuts’ that enable individuals to form judgements, make decisions, and solve problems quickly and efficiently.
- simplify complex processes by focusing on the most relevant information, allowing people to make decisions without having to analyse every detail.

Question 44

what is the purpose/ application of heuristics in everyday life?

Answer 44

intuitive, rapid and automatic processes that develop overtime as a result of experience and learning, therefore individuals are often unaware of them in everyday life. They are useful and necessary for everyday decision making but may sometimes lead to biases and incorrect judgements.

Question 45

list the three positives of heuristics

Answer 45

1. save time when making decisions and problem solving
2. Application sometimes results in accurate decision-making and efficient problem-solving
3. Can be adaptive and protect and individual from dangerous situations

Question 46

list the two negatives of heuristics

Answer 46

1. decisions are made quickly which makes individuals prone to error.
2. base rate fallacy

Question 47

define base rate fallacy

Answer 47

a type of bias in which decisions, social perceptions and judgements are influenced more by vivid memories and experiences than statistical fact.
* not a heuristic itself, but a bias that results from using heuristics. It leads us to rely on prior experience (not necessarily logic or fact that challenges our ideas) when making decisions and problem solving.

Question 48

define prejudice

Answer 48

a prejudgment that you make about others before interacting with them, and it happens when stereotypes become beliefs.
–> unfounded and stems from emotional as opposed to reason. Prejudice can often be unconscious, meaning you may not even realize that you have one.

Question 49

with reference to the tri-component model what is the equivalent for discrimination

Answer 49

behavioural

Question 50

with reference to the tri-component model what is the equivalent for prejudices

Answer 50

affective

Question 51

with reference to the tri-component model what is the equivalent for stereotypes

Answer 51

cognitive

Question 52

define discrimination

Answer 52

the unjust treatment of people due to their membership within a certain social catagory. It is behaviour that results from stereotyping and prejudice.
–> involves excluding or treating a person differently based on their social group

Question 53

recall the two types of discrimination

Answer 53

1. Direct discrimination
2. indirect discrimination

Question 54

define direct discrimination

Answer 54

when someone is openly treated unfairly because of their association with a particular group, or because they posses a particular characteristic.

Question 55

define indirect discrimination

Answer 55

occurs when a practice or blanket rule applies to all people and unfairly disadvantages a group or person as a result

Question 56

define stigma

Answer 56

the feeling of shame or disgrace experienced by an individual caused by being stereotyped, and the resulting prejudice and discrimination that comes from that

Question 57

discuss the effects of stigmas

Answer 57

stigma may negatively affect the relationships and interactions people with a mental disorder have with others, causing feelings of isolation and societal exclusion, and often preventing them from seeking the help they need

Question 58

recall the two types of stigmas

Answer 58

1. Social stigma
2. Self-stigma

Question 59

define social stigma

Answer 59

a negative label caused by widespread beliefs (stereotypes)

Question 60

define self-stigma

Answer 60

the result of the internalisation of negative stereotypes and can lead to poor self-efficiency and low self-esteem

Question 61

describe the effects of prejudice and discrimination on mental wellbeing

Answer 61

experiencing prejudice, discrimination, and stigma can cause individuals to feel alienated and excluded from society. If such persist, there can be detrimental impacts on an individuals personal mental wellbeing.

Question 62

list the four main impacts of prejudice and discrimination on personal mental wellbeing

Answer 62

1. Damaged or worsened self-image and self-confidence
2. heightened experience of stress
3. increased likelihood of rumination
4. increased susceptibility to mental health problems and disorders such as increased anxiety or depression

Question 63

rumination definition

Answer 63

a deep or considered thought about something.

Question 64

recall the four ways in which prejudice, stigma and discrimination can be reduced

Answer 64

1. education
2. Inter-group contact
3. Social media
4. Laws

Question 65

describe education

Answer 65

providing knowledge and information about the unknown is a great way to correct, or atleast begin to identify, misinformation and assumptions that people may have about others

Question 66

describe inter-group contact

Answer 66

the impact of stigma and prejudice can be reduced through conversations. By having open discussions, asking respectful questions and taking the time to listen, you can better understand others’ experiences and avoid engaging in offensive behaviours or mindset.

Question 67

describe social media

Answer 67

can also be used as a tool in raising awareness and calling out prejudice or discrimination. The impact of these attempts is usually more widespread and better realised due to a variety of people from different parts of the world being active on these platforms.

Question 68

describe laws

Answer 68

having laws in place to prevent discrimination can also reduce the negative impact it has on wellbeing, as these laws may help protect and give a voice to minority groups.