seminar 11 Flashcards
What is attribution theory?
Attribution theory focuses on how we interpret and explain the causes of behavior, particularly in social interactions, and how these explanations affect our feelings and actions in relationships.
What is the difference between internal and external attributions?
Internal attribution assigns the cause of behavior to someone’s internal traits (e.g., personality).
External attribution assigns the cause to external circumstances (e.g., situational factors like weather or emergencies).
What is the stable vs. unstable attribution dimension?
Stable attribution sees the cause as consistent over time (e.g., “They always cancel because they’re a bad friend”).
Unstable attribution perceives the cause as temporary or changeable (e.g., “They cancelled because of an unexpected emergency”).
How does the global vs. specific attribution dimension differ?
Global attribution links the behavior to a broader, general pattern (e.g., “They cancel all the time, it’s just who they are”).
Specific attribution attributes the behavior to this one instance (e.g., “They cancelled this one time because they were busy”).
What is the controllable vs. uncontrollable attribution dimension?
Controllable attribution suggests the behavior is something the person could have influenced (e.g., “They cancelled because they didn’t feel like coming”).
Uncontrollable attribution suggests the behavior is due to external factors beyond the person’s control (e.g., “They cancelled because of a family emergency”).
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize internal causes for others’ behavior and underestimate external factors (e.g., blaming someone’s lateness on their disorganization instead of considering traffic).
What is the actor-observer effect?
The actor-observer effect refers to our tendency to attribute our own behavior to external causes (e.g., “I was late because of traffic”) while attributing others’ behavior to internal causes (e.g., “They’re late because they’re disorganized”).
What is the self-serving bias?
The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors (e.g., effort, skill) and failures to external factors (e.g., bad luck, unfair circumstances).
What is the belief in a just world?
The belief in a just world is the idea that people get what they deserve. For example, we may think someone who faces misfortune “deserved” it due to their actions.
What is the false consensus effect?
The false consensus effect is the tendency to overestimate how much others share our beliefs and behaviors, assuming that our perspective is more common than it might be.
How do attributions of sacrifice affect relationship satisfaction?
Positive attributions of sacrifice (e.g., motivated by a genuine desire to benefit the relationship) can lead to satisfaction, trust, and commitment. Negative attributions (e.g., motivated by fear of rejection) can lead to resentment, guilt, and low satisfaction.
What is the difference between approach and avoidance reasons for sacrifice?
Approach reasons involve sacrificing due to a genuine desire to benefit the relationship (e.g., doing something to make the other person happy).
Avoidance reasons involve sacrificing to avoid conflict or rejection (e.g., doing something out of fear of upsetting the other person).
How do negative events influence our emotional responses in relationships?
Attributions for negative events can affect how we feel: Controllable attributions (e.g., “They could have been more considerate”) tend to provoke anger, while uncontrollable attributions (e.g., “It was an accident”) can evoke less anger or even compassion.
What is schematic cognition in the context of relationships?
Schematic cognition refers to automatic, unconscious attributions based on past experiences and generalized perceptions of relationships (e.g., assuming a friend’s cancellation is selfish because of past experiences).
What is event-dependent cognition in the context of attributions?
Event-dependent cognition involves conscious, specific attributions that are influenced by the unique circumstances of the current situation, rather than generalizing based on past experiences.
