Unit 10; Forming Impressions Flashcards
Covariation theory
Is behaviour dispositional or situational
Based on:
Consensus (diff. ppl, same situation)
Distinctiveness (same person, diff. situation)
Consistency (same person, similar situation)
When is it situational attribution
High consistency
High consensus
High distinctiveness
When is it dispositional attribution
High consistency
Low consensus
Low distinctiveness
When is it wider situation attribution
Low consistency
High/low consensus
High/low distinctiveness
Wider situational attribution
Abnormal behaviour due to outside factors
Correspondent Inference theory
Explains a person’s behaviour
Includes:
- Degree of choice (amount of freedom an actor has in choosing their behaviour)
- Expectation (whether an individual’s behaviour in a particular social role matches our expectations for that role)
- Intended consequence (the goals and motivations underlying behaviour)
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency to overvalue DISPOSITIONAL factors for OTHERS’ (observed) behaviour
Actor/observer effect
Consider situational factors of your own behaviour
Dispositional factors of others’ behaviour
Is the fundamental attribution error universal?
No!
It’s influenced by culture/age, collectivist societies have less fae
Especially over 10 yrs old
Self-serving bias
failure = situational
success = dispositional
Above average effect + what causes it
Think you’re above average
Especially for things that are important to you (ex. ability to make friends)
Cognitive heuristics
Accelerate the processing of social situations
Representativeness heuristic
How well behaviour fits a prototype
Availability heuristic
Experiences most readily available in memory
ex. “list 2 flaws” = easily available = low ratings
Distance and attractiveness
More attracted to ppl close in physical AND functional (how often you interact) distance
Aka low and low
Familiarity and attractiveness
More familiar = more attractive
(ex. famous people, mirror of our face vs picture)
Mere exposure effect
A tendency to perceive previous stimuli as more favourable
Physical attractiveness
Indicates personal characteristics
ex. kind, warm, sensitive, etc.
Halo effect
Attribute positive characteristics to those that make a good impression
example of representativeness heuristic
Others’ opinions of us and attractiveness
Prev. impressions influence novel ones
Most to least
Dislike to like (enemies to lovers)
Like to like
Dislike to dislike
Like to dislike
Why is enemies to lovers the most attractive?
See it as a gain
Believe it’s due to our great qualities
When do we like those who like us back
When low self esteem
False consensus effect + why
Overestimating how much others agree with our opinions
As social animals, it is important to us that we fit in with groups / beliefs not totally out of line
Illusory correlation
Believing two variables to be related when there’s no real evidence
(representativeness = stereotypes)
