Percieving persons (4) key terms Flashcards
Attribution theory
This describes the process of how people explain behavior (Fritz Heider)
Availability heuristic
Tendency for people to try and estimate the chance of an event ocurring based on how quickly instances of that event come to mind
Base-rate fallacy
Tendency for people to be very insensitive to information in the form of numerical statistics. This belongs to the availability heuristic
Belief in a just world
A belief we hold that people deserve what they get. This can lead to victim blaming
Belief perseverance
When people stick to their beleifs even though they’ve been faced with contrary evidence
Central traits
These are traits that have a big influence on our impressions and when we’re confronted with them, we tend to also assume the person has other traits as well, even though there is no evidence for that
Confirmation bias
When people actively seek information that can verify their existing belief, so they don’t have to change it
Counterfatcual thinking
When people think about what could have been. This type of thinking often still has a big influence on our emotions
Covariation principle
This states that people only attrbute behavior to a factor when that factor is present when the behevior is present and when the factor is nt present when the behavior is not either (Kelley)
False-concensus effect
Tendency for people to think that many more people agree with them than is actually the case. This belongs to the availability heuristic
Fundamental attribution error
This states that people tend to underestimate the influence of situational factors when making an attribution, instead focussing heavily on personal factors (Ross)
Implicit personality theory
This states that everyone has implicit, set assumptions about the relationship between personality traits. Central traits play a key role
Impression formation
The process of combining information about a person from different sources and turning that into an impression
Information integration theory
States that impressions are based on two factors: the dispositions and state of the person that’s making the impression and a weighted average of the target person’s traits
Mind perception
The human tendency to attribute humanlike characteristics to inanimate and animate objects and persons. You litterally percieve something to have a mind:)
Need for closure
A desire to reduce unertainity, for example if your first impression of a person in actually correct or not. For people who are low in this need, first impressions weight heavier
Nonverbal behavior
Behavior that shows a persons true feelings, without them telling you what they are
Personal attrubution
When people seek the explanation to a person’s behavior in their personal characteristics, like mood or personality
Primacy effect
Information that is absorbed first, will have a stronger impact on someone’s impression
Priming
When recently learned conepts come to mind easier and influence how we interpret later information
Self-fulfilling prophecy
When a someone’s expectations of another person influence their behavior, so that the initial expectation is confirmed
Situational attribution
When people seek the explanation to a person’s behavtior in external factors specific to the situation in which the behavior occured
Social perception
An overlaying term for all the processes people use to make sense of the people around them
