AP Psychology / Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality
4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception
Notes
- Dispositional (personal) vs situational attributions.
- Fundamental attribution error: overestimating personality and underestimating the situation when judging others.
- Actor-observer bias, self-serving bias, just-world phenomenon.
- Explanatory style: optimistic or pessimistic.
Practice
You assume a driver who cut you off is a jerk, not that they're rushing to the hospital. This is:
Blaming personality.
Taking credit for success but blaming bad luck for failure:
Protects self-esteem.
Believing people get what they deserve:
Victim blaming.
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