Person perception Flashcards
Person perception
the mental processes used to think about and evaluate other people
Halo effect
the tendency to allow an overall positive impression of a person or a specific quality to influence beliefs and expectations about the person in other qualities
Reverse halo effect
positive characteristic indicates the presence of negative characteristics (e.g., someone extremely talented could also suggest they are arrogant or cocky)
Horn effect
negative characteristics indicates the presence of one or more other negative characteristics
Attribution
the process by which we explain the cause of our own or another person’s behaviour; also used to refer to the explanation we come up with
External attribution
an explanation of behaviour due to factors associated with the situation the person is in
Internal attribution
an explanation of behaviour due to the characteristics of the person involved, such as their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort
Cognitive bias
a mistaken way of thinking that leads to systematic errors of judgment and faulty decision-making
Actor-observer bias
the tendency to attribute one’s own behaviour to external or situational factors, while attributing others’ behaviour to internal or personal factors
Self-serving bias
when judging ourselves, the tendency to take the credit for our successes (internal factors) and attribute failures to external situational factors
Cognitive dissonance
an unpleasant psychological state that occurs when people become aware that there is inconsistency among their various beliefs, attitudes or other ‘cognitions’, or that their behaviour conflicts with their cognitions
