Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior

Attribution Theory
Focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes
of other people’s behavior
 Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Dispositional (Internal)
Causes relate to the features of the person who is being
considered
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Situational (External)
Causes relate to features of the surroundings or social
context
 Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Correspondent Inference Theory
Describes attributions made by observing the intentional
(especially unexpected) behaviors performed by another
person
 Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Fundamental Attribution Error
Bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than
situational attribution
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Stereotypes
Attitudes and impressions that are made based on limited
and superficial information
 Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Self-fulfilling prophecy
The phenomenon of a stereotype creating an expectation of
a particular group, which creates conditions that lead to
confirmation of this stereotype
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Stereotype Threat
A feeling of anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Prejudice
An irrationally based attitude prior to actual experience
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Ethnocentrism
 The practice of making judgments about other cultures
based on the values and beliefs of one’s own culture (in-
group vs. out-group)
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Cultural Relativism
Studying social groups and cultures on their own terms
Behavioral Sciences – Social Perception and Behavior
Discrimination
When prejudicial attitudes cause differences in treatment of
a group