Social Interactions Flashcards
What is the “attribution theory?”
the attempt to explain how individuals view behavior, both our own and that of others
What is the Actor-Observer Bias?
the tendency to blame our actions on the situation or circumstances, and to blame the actions of others on their personalities
“It’s not my fault, but it is yours”
What is the Fundamental Attribution Error?
when we underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of the person’s character
“Your bad behavior is who you are. You cut me off in traffic because you are a jerk!”
What is the Self-Serving Bias?
the tendency to attribute our success to ourselves and our failures to circumstances outside our control
“I got an A because I’m smart. I failed that test because I have a terrible teacher.”
What is the “optimism bias?”
bad things happen to other people, but not to me
What is the “just-world” phenomenon?
bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to good people
What is the “halo effect?”
an overall impression of a person is influenced by how we view their character
“Peter is nice, so he must also be a good dad.”
What is the “physical attractiveness” stereotype?
when people rate attractive individuals more favorably than unattractive people
Patrick is handsome, so he must also be very smart.
What is a false consensus?
when we assume that everyone else agrees with what we do (even if they don’t)
What is a projection bias?
when we assume others have the same beliefs that we do
What is an illusory correlation?
people who are seen as distinctive draw more attention and are likely to be seen as representative of groups
Because of Michael Jordan, there may be an assumption that all black people are good athletes.
What the difference between a peer group and a reference group?
reference group: who you try to emulate, wish to belong to
peer groups are SELF SELECTED
