Psychology 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Social Loafing, Social Exchange Theory, Fritz Heider

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

Attributions: judgments about the causes of our own and other people"s behaviour and outcomes. Why people behave as they do personal attributions or situational. Personal (internal) attributions: people"s behaviour is caused by their characteristics. Situational (external) attributions: that aspects of the situation cause behaviour. Three types of information determine the attribution we make: consistency, distinctiveness, consensus. Cultural backgrounds also affect the way we go about making attributions. Primacy effect: refers to our tendency to attach more importance to the initial information that we learn about a person. New information can change our opinion, but it has to work hard to overcome that initial impression for two reasons: we are more alert to information we receive first. Initial information may shape how we perceive subsequent information. Self-fulfilling prophecy: occurs usually without conscious awareness, when people"s erroneous expectations lead them to act toward others in a way that brings about the expected behaviours, thereby confirming the original impression.