Lesson 2 - Personal Perception & Biases Flashcards
Explanatory Style
The way a person creates a narrative about a specific event in their life.
- The explanation can wither be categorised as positive (optimistic), or, negative (pessimistic)
Optimistic Explanatory Style
A situation is temporary, there are aspects they can control, and it’s not their fault. A person who creates positive narratives surrounding life events can bounce back more quickly and keep a happier outlook.
Pessimistic Explanatory Style
A situation feeling perminent, completely their fault when it probably isn’t, and there is nothing they can do to change their situation, even if there is…
Locus of Control (internal vs external)
Refers to our beliefs about the power we have over our lives, and is a cognitive factor that affects personality development.
Internal: “I make things happen” (Active) - You are in charge/control of your own fate…
External: “Things happen to me” (Passive) - Chance or outside factors beyond your control determines your fate…
Social Comparison
Suggests that people value their personal and social worth by assessing how they compare to others - compare/evaluate their own attitudes, abilities and traits to others.
Upward Social Comparison
When we compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than or superior to us - often focus on the desire to improve ourselves, our current status, or our level of ability. - we might compare ousleves to someone better off and look for ways we can achieve similar results…
Downward Social Comparison
Comparing ourselves to those who are worse off than us on the comparison point
- Often centred on making ourselves feel better about our abilities or traits
- We might not be great at something but at least we are better off than someone else…
Relative Deprivation
The perception that we are worse off to those whom we compare ourselves to…
- Whenever we compare ourselves to others we run the risk of relative deprivation
Self Serving Bias
The tendency to take more credit for good outcomes (personal attribution), and blame negative outcomes on situational factors.
- Humans prefer to view themselves favourably.
Confirmation Bias
People’s tendency to process information (cherry-pick) by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs
- When someone forms an opinion and then will only accept info that agrees with it - ignoring everything else… - we look for things that confirm our judgment
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Labels or specific ideas about your own, or other people’s dispositions, which can directly influence your own or their behaviour(s)…
Ex: Your teacher tells you repeatedly in class you are failing the course… result, you perform poorly in your exam…
Actor-Observer Bias
The tendency to attribute one’s own actions to external causes while attributing other people’s behaviours to internal causes…
- This bias depends on culture… Individualist or collectivist
- Shows that we judge ourselves we tend to seek situational causes, and we like to make excuses for our own behaviour.
