Attribution Flashcards
What are the three factors that affect social perception?
Characteristics of the target, characteristics of the perceiver, and information about the context.
What are attributions?
The explanations or reasons we generate for people’s behaviours.
What is the difference between internal and external causation?
Internal means the cause comes from the person’s disposition. External means the cause comes from the environment.
Which attribution is it when the cause is internal and unstable?
Effort attribution.
Which attribution is it when the cause is internal and stable?
Ability attribution.
Which attribution is it when the cause is external and unstable?
Luck attribution.
Which attribution is it when the cause is external and stable?
Task difficulty attribution.
What is Kelly’s covariation principle?
When people try to determine a cause, they assume that the cause must be present when the behaviour occurs, and absent when it does not occur.
What are the 3 kinds of covariation?
Consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency.
What is the consensus covariation? What does high consensus mean for internal/external cause?
The extent to which other people act the same way. High consensus means possible external cause.
What is the distinctiveness covariation? What does high distinctiveness mean for internal/external cause?
How the person acts in different situations. High distinctiveness means possible external cause.
What is the consistency covariation? What does high consistency mean for internal/external cause?
Does the person normally act this way in this situation? High consistency means a possible internal cause.
What should be noted about consistency covariation?
It’s only suggestive, you should look to consensus and distinctiveness to determine cause for sure.
What is the discounting principle?
The importance of any potential cause of a person’s behaviour is reduced to the extend that other causes exist. If many causes exist, it limits the extent that any one is responsible.
What is the augmenting principle?
When a factor that would encourage and a factor that would inhibit the behaviour are present, then you put more weight on the encouraging factor.
