PSY 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Fundamental Attribution Error, Cognitive Dissonance, Authoritarian Personality

• School: Ohio University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1010
• Professor: Michael Grant

Document Summary

Fundamental attribution error: bias towards internal attribution, no(cid:449) (cid:272)alled (cid:862)the (cid:272)orrespo(cid:374)de(cid:374)(cid:272)e (cid:271)ias(cid:863) Internal attribution for others: external attribution for ourselves. Internal attributions for our own successes: external attributions for our own failures. Affective: feelings about the attitude object. Behavioral: actions toward the attitude object. Cognitive: beliefs about the attitude object. When unsure of attitude, infer it from behavior: does not assume experience of cognitive dissonance, seems to apply in cases of no prior attitude or only slight discrepancies. Often lead to prejudice: affective component: hatred or admiration, behavioral component: social discrimination, cognitive component: stereotyped thinking. Motivational theories: authoritarian personality, social identity theory (ingroup vs outgroup) Cognitive theories: schemas and cognitive shortcuts, social categorizations. Learning theories: modeling parents or peers, media portrayals. Implicit association test results: even people who deny racial prejudice may carry negative associations. Unconscious patronization: lower expectations, inflated praise and insufficient criticism for minority student achievement. Stereotypes and prejudice will diminish as contacts between groups increase.