Social and Multicultural Flashcards
Heider’s attributional theory (disposition & situation)
People make either dispositional or situational attributions.
Dispositional: Cause of a behavior within a person (poor performance due to lack of effort)
Situational: Cause of a behavior is external. (poor performance due to test’s unfairness).
Kelley’s attributional theory (consistency, distinctiveness, consensus)
In order to decide whether one’s behavior is due to internal vs external factors, need to consider consistency (same behavior over time), distinctiveness (whether Bx is unique to a context), and consensus (is everyone else doing it).
Learned helplessness
When someone attributes negative events to internal, stable, and global causes, that person is more likely to experience depression, helplessness, and hopelessness.
Fundamental Attribution bias
Tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal factors, while underestimating the influence of external factors.
Actor-Observer Bias
Describes a situation in which people attribute their own actions to situational factors while minimizing the role of dispositional elements.
Self-serving bias
When we explain our own behavior, we tend to attribute our own successes to internal factors and failures to external ones.
Availability heuristic
People estimate the likelihood of a situation by how easily they can recall it.
EX: Thinking that firearms cause more death than asthma because we hear about gun deaths more often.
Representative heuristic
People make judgements about others based on what they believe is a typical example of a particular category.
EX: Assuming victims in rape are female and perpetrators are male b/c that’s what we hear about.
Simulation Heuristic
`Suggests that people develop mental images of situations and then use these mental images to make judgments about facts in their lives.
Consistency theories
Propose that attitude formation and change are organized by a need to impose structure and order on one’s understanding of the environment.
Balance theory
Explains attitude change when two people have attitudes toward the same object or activity. When there is balance (shared attitude), nothing happens; when there is imbalance (conflicting attitudes), people are motivated to change aspects of their attitudes.
Cognitive Dissonance
People change their attitudes to reduce the aversive arousal they experience when they become aware of inconsistency in their cognitions. Results in people changing their attitudes to match their actions.
Self-perception theory
Competes with consistency theories. People infer their attitudes as well as their emotions by observing their own behavior. “I did it so I believe it” theory.
Behavioral confirmation
People are motivated to confirm the expectations others have for them.
Reactance theory (MUH FREEDOM)
People won’t comply with requests or attempts to be persuaded if they feel their freedom is being threatened.
Prejudice
Negative attitude directed toward a specific group of ppl. Contains cognitive (stereotyping), affective, and behavioral (discrimination) components.
Learned prejudice
Learned through classical, operant conditioning, as well as modeling.
James-Lange theory of emotion
Emotion results from perceiving bodily reactions/responses. EX: see a mugger –> HR increase –> perception of that HR results in fear. NOT WELL SUPPORTED.
Cannon-Bard theory
Emotions and bodily reactions occur concurrently. Some support for this thoery.
Schacter’s two factor theory
Emotion results from information from internal (hypothalamus, limbic system) and external (context) factors.
Social exchange theory
Evaluates attraction is affected by the costs and benefits of being in a relationship. When costs outweigh benefits, attraction declines.
Normative social influence
Pressure to conform based on an eed for approval and acceptance by a group.
Informational social influence
Pressure to conform based on the assumption that the other person hasmore info than you.
Reference groups
Conforming to mirror people we admire, like, and want to resemble.
