Social Attribution Flashcards
Exam 1
What is attribution?
An inference about the cause of behavior
What are dispositional (“internal”) attributions?
A behavior is based on internal characteristics, caused by something about the person
What are situational (“external”) attributions?
A behavior reflects external circumstances, caused by something about the situation
What is covariation theory?
Can attribute behavior of someone else to something about the person, the situation, or general circumstances (theory requires us to gather information and rationally review it)
What are the 3 types of information used to make attributions?
1) Consistency
2) Distinctiveness
3) Consensus
What is consistency?
How consistent is the behavior in this situation (high consistency can move on to next step)
What is distinctiveness?
How specific is the person’s behavior to this situation
What is consensus?
Would other people behave in the same way
High consistency + low distinctiveness + low consensus =?
Dispositional
High consistency + high distinctiveness + high consensus = ?
Situational (stimulus)
If consistency is low then behavior is attributed to?
Transient circumstances (catch all)
What is the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)?
Tendency to overestimate personality factors and underestimate situational factors when making attributions about others behavior
Why do we make the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)?
Because it’s comforting to make dispositional attributions and because of perceptual salience?
What is perceptual salience?
Focus on other people’s personalities (not the environment around them)
EX: crime victims and it happened because they did…
