Social Cognition - Causal Attributions Flashcards
Social Cognition
these are inferences that people draw about the causes of their own behaviors and the behaviors of others
causal attributions
Social Cognition
list 3 dichotomous features of attributions
internal (dispositional) - external (situational)
stable - unstable
specific - global
Social Cognition
people with an optimistic explanatory style attribute the negative outcomes of their actions to these 3 factors
external, unstable, & specific factors
Social Cognition
people with a pessimistic explanatory style attribute the negative outcomes of their actions to these 3 factors
internal, stable, & global factors
Social Cognition
this is a bias that affects causal attributions and refers to the tendency to overestimate the role of dispositional factors & underestimate the role of situational factors when making attributions about the behavior of another person
the fundamental attribution error
Social Cognition
Miller’s (1984) study examining the affect of culture on the fundamental attribution error found that, among adolescents & adults, this racial/ethnic group made more dispositional attributions and this racial/ethnic group made more situational attributions
North Americans = more dispositional attributions
Asian Indians = more situational attributions
Social Cognition
this addresses the attributions we make about ourselves & other people and refers to the tendency to attribute our own behaviors to situational factors & the behaviors of others to dispositional factors
the actor-observer effect
Social Cognition
this applies to attributions we make about ourselves and occurs when we attribute our own behavior to dispositional factors when those behaviors have desirable outcomes but to situational factors when they have undesirable outcomes
the self-serving bias
Social Cognition
this applies to attributions made about members of entire groups and occurs when the negative behaviors of members of one’s own in-groups are attributed to situational factors, while the negative behaviors of members of out-groups are consistently attributed to dispositional factors, and vice versa for positive behaviors; has been used to explain prejudice of members of majority group toward members of minority groups
the ultimate attribution error
Social Cognition
this applies to attributions made about a group and its members and consists of 2 version 1) described by Hamill et al. (1980) and 2) described by Allison & Messick (1985)
the group attribution error
Social Cognition
describe Hamill et al.’s (1980) version of the group attribution error
people believe an individual’s beliefs, attitudes, & preference represent those of their entire group
Social Cognition
describe Allison & Messick’s (1985) version of the group attribution error
people believe the decision or conclusion drawn by a group represents the decisions or conclusions of each individual group member, even in the presence of information suggesting that the group decision was not unanimous
Social Cognition
this model addresses causal attributions and proposes that people make attributions about another person’s behavior by considering 3 types of information: consensus, consistency, & distinctiveness
Kelley’s (1967) covariation model
Social Cognition
this type of information, associated with Kelley’s (1967) covariation model, occurs when asking, “Would others do the same thing as the person in the same situation?”
consensus
if the answer is yes, there is high consensus; if the answer is no, there is low consensus
Social Cognition
this type of information, associated with Kelley’s (1967) covariation model, occurs when asking, “Does the person usually act this way in this type of situation?”
consistency
** if yes, then high consistency; if no, then low consistency**
