Person Perception Flashcards
(15 cards)
Attribution theory (Heider, 1958)
How ppl explain causes of behaviour
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTION: attribution to internal characteristic of peron (ability, personality, mood, effort)
SITUATIONAL ATTRIBUTION: attribution to factors external to personal (task, other ppl, luck)
Attribution theory (Kelly, 1967)
Ppl make personal/ situational attributions based on 3 factors:
- Consistency
- Distinctiveness
- Consensus
Eg a mother beats their child, what does this say about mother?
- Consistency:
Does perons usually behave this way? YES= internal - Distinctiveness:
Does person behave differently in different situations? NO= internal - Consensus:
Do other behave similarity in this situation? NO=internal
So, mother habitually beats children; others do not beat child
Attribution biases
People often dont thunk fearfully abut attributions they make
Cognitive heuristics— info-processing rules of thumb that makes us think quick + easy
Cognitive heuristics: pitfalls
Availability heuristic: tendency to estimate odds that event will occur by how easily it pops to mind
False-consensus effect: overestimation of extent to which others share their opinions, attributes + behaviour
Base-rate fallacy: social perceptions = more influenced by one vivid life story that statistical facts
Fundamental attribution error (Ross, 1977)
Tendency to underestimate impact of situational factors on other people’s behaviour
Eg:
- parents surprised child , who’s usually naughty at home, is friendly at school
FAEE (Ross et al. 1967)
Partcipants either quiz master or contestant
How lnelgbe are quiz master and consternation according to advice, quiz master and contestant?
What does FAE occur?
- ppl have impulse tendency to accept what they encounter as true
- culture teaches us to commit the FAE
FAE (San Martin et al., 2019)
Cultures differ in relational mobility (how much freeedom + opportunity society offers to individuals to form new and break old ties)
Low: Nigeria and Morocco
High: Israel and Spain
Low relational moniker indicates weaker sense of internal attributions weaker sense of internal attributions
Why does FAE occur?
People have impulsive tendency to accept what they encounter as true
Culture teaches us to commit to FAE
Dispositions in behaviour caused by perceptual bias
2 biases
Fundamental attribution error = bias in explaining somebody else’s behaviour
Self-serving bias= bias in explains our own behavior
Resukts of self-serving bias;
- most business people see themselves as more ethical than average business ppl
- 86% of ppl rate their job preformance above average
- most ppl see themselves as less prejudices the others in community
- most drivers believe themselves to be softer and more skills than average driver
- most perceive themselves as more intelligent than average peer
Special form of self-serving bias: blaming the victim
Unemployed people = lazy
Rape victims = careless
Aids victims = lack moral standards
Belief in just world (Lerner, 1980)
- people get what they deserve
Reasons for ‘blaming the victim’
Self protection — if victims can’t influence their own misfortunes the i could be next
Fundamental attribution error— underestimation of external factors
Self efficiency (Bandura, 1986)
Sense that someone is competent and effective
Locus of control and well-being (Frey et al., 1986)
Victims of road accidents interviewed in hospital and determined whether they were internal or externally orientation
How long did they stay in hospital ?
- external stayed longer
Learned helplessness
Taking away responsibility leads to passive behavior
Rodin et al., 1977:
- in old ppls homw pensioners given plants
- half asked to water it the leaves, done by staff for other half
- pensioner who waters own plants were happier after 3 weeks and had lower mortality rate after 2 yrs
