Topic 8B Flashcards
Attribution theory
attempts to explain the processes by which individuals explain, or attribute, the causes of behavior and events.
Fundamental attribution error
occurs when people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations for the behavior of other people (in comparison to how we explain our own behavior). That is to say, we tend to assume that the behavior of another person is due to a trait of that person, underestimating the role of context. The fundamental attribution error is so powerful that people often overlook even obvious situational influences on behavior. This can contribute to prejudice and stereotyping and lead to conflict.
actor-observer bias
where an actor tends to explain his or her behavior by situational factors while an observer tends to explain the actor’s behavior based on stable internal states.
Self-serving bias
the tendency of individuals to make internal attributions when their actions have a positive outcome but external attributions when their actions have a negative outcome.
Collectivist cultures
see individuals as members of a group and tend to value conformity, mutual support, and interdependence
Just-World Hypothesis.
This theory is one consequence of westerners’ tendency to provide internal explanations for others’ behavior is victim-blaming. When bad things happen to people, others tend to assume that those people somehow are responsible for their own fate. A common view in the United States is the just-world hypothesis, which is the belief that people get the outcomes they deserve. In order to maintain the belief that the world is a fair place, people tend to think that good people experience positive outcomes and bad people experience negative outcomes.
Ethnocentrism
the belief that one’s group is of central importance and includes the tendency to judge the practices of other groups by one’s cultural standards.
Cultural relativism
refers to an awareness of the wide diversity of beliefs, norms, values and cultural practices that exist. Cultural relativism was, in part, a response to Western ethnocentrism.
Self-fulfilling prophecies
refers to a phenomenon in which the expectations of a person or event unknowingly influence outcomes, leading the realization of those expectations. In particular, this occurs when there are lowered expectations that accompany negative stereotypes, which contribute to making stereotypical beliefs into reality.
Labeling theory
hypothesizes that the labels applied to individuals influence their behavior, particularly that the application of negative or stigmatizing labels promotes deviant behavior. They become a self-fulfilling prophecy when an individual who is labeled has little choice but to conform to the essential meaning of that judgment. Consequently, labeling theory postulates that it is possible to prevent social deviance via a limited social shaming reaction in “labelers” and replace moral indignation with tolerance.
Stereotype Threat
the experience of anxiety or concern in a situation where a person has the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about their social group. Since its introduction into the academic literature in 1995, Stereotype Threat has become one of the most widely studied topics in the field of social psychology.
• First described by social psychologist, Claude Steele and his colleagues, Stereotype Threat has been shown to reduce the performance of individuals who belong to negatively stereotyped groups. If negative stereotypes are present regarding a specific group, they are likely to become anxious about their performance, which in turn may hinder their ability to perform at their maximum level.
