PSYCH101 Chapter : Psych 101

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Richard Ennis

Document Summary

Social psychology: the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. Social psychologists study the social influences that help explain why the same person will act differently in different situations. Dispositional attribution is due to personality, while a situational attribution is a reaction (eg: to stress or abuse). Attribution theory: suggests how we explain someone s behaviour- by crediting either the situation or the person s disposition. Fundamental attribution error: the tendency for observers, when analyzing another s behaviour, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition. How we explain someone s behaviour affects how we react to it. Attitude: feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events. Attitudes can affect actions, but actions can also affect attitudes. People will come to believe in what they have stood up for.