dispositional attribution
the tendency to explain someone’s behavior by blaming their internal characteristics—such as personality, traits, ability, or mood—rather than outside situational factors
situational attribution
explaining a person’s behavior by blaming external, environmental circumstances rather than their internal traits or personality. It emphasizes that actions are caused by pressures or situations, not the individual’s character.
Simple Example: A student fails a test and blames it on the test being too hard (situational), rather than their lack of studying.
dispostional attribution
he tendency to explain someone’s behavior by blaming their internal characteristics—such as personality, traits, ability, or mood—rather than outside situational factors. It assumes actions stem from who the person is, not their environment.
Simple Example:
Scenario: A coworker is late to a meeting.
Dispositional Attribution: “They are lazy and irresponsible”.
Optimistic explanatory style
a cognitive habit of interpreting negative events as temporary, specific, and external (outside oneself), while attributing positive events to internal, stable, and global causes. This mindset promotes resilience by focusing on controllable factors and believing bad situations are temporary.
Key Components & Example:
Negative Event: You fail a test.
Optimistic View: “I didn’t study enough for this specific test (temporary/specific), but I can improve next time (controllable).”
Pessimistic Explanatory Style
a cognitive tendency to explain negative events as internal (my fault), stable (permanent), and global (affecting all life areas). This mindset fosters hopelessness, reduces motivation, and is linked to depression. It often involves attributing success to external, temporary luck.
Simple Examples:
Failed a test: “I failed because I’m stupid (internal), I will always be bad at this (stable), and I’ll probably fail out of college (global)”.
Missed a job opportunity: “I didn’t get the job because I’m unqualified, and I’ll never find a good job”.
Actor-Observer Bias
the tendency to attribute your own actions to external causes (situation) while attributing others’ behaviors to internal causes (personality). It highlights a difference in perspective: you know your context, but only see others’ actions.
Simple Example: If you are late to class, you blame traffic (external/situational). If a classmate is late, you assume they are lazy or disorganized (internal/dispositional)
Fundamental Attribution Error(FAE)
The fundamental attribution error (FAE) is a cognitive bias where people overemphasize personal traits (dispositional factors) and underemphasize external circumstances (situational factors) when judging others’ behavior. It is the tendency to assume others’ actions are caused by “who they are” rather than their situation.
Simple Example:
Scenario: A waiter is slow bringing your food.
FAE Interpretation: You think the waiter is lazy or incompetent (internal/personality).
Actual Situation: The kitchen is understaffed and the waiter is overwhelmed (external/situation).
Self-Serving Bias
the common tendency to attribute one’s successes to internal, personal factors (e.g., “I’m smart,” “I worked hard”) while blaming external, situational factors for failures (e.g., “The test was unfair,” “I had bad luck”). This cognitive bias protects self-esteem and ego, allowing individuals to feel better about their performance
External locus of control
the belief that life outcomes—successes or failures—are determined by outside forces like luck, fate, or other people rather than one’s own actions. People with this mindset often feel powerless or helpless regarding their situation.
Internal locus of control
the belief that one’s own actions, efforts, and decisions directly determine their life outcomes and successes, rather than luck or fate.
Mere exposure effect
a social psychology phenomenon where people develop a preference for, or liking of, things, people, or ideas simply because they are familiar with them
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
a belief or expectation—true or false—that causes a person to act in ways that make that expectation come true. It occurs when your behavior changes based on a preconception, ultimately forcing the outcome to match your original, often incorrect, belief.
Key Example (Classroom):
Expectation: A teacher is told a student is gifted, though they are not.
Action: The teacher gives the student more attention and harder work.
Result: The student performs better, fulfilling the false expectation.
Social Comparison
the drive to evaluate your own abilities, opinions, and status by measuring them against others. People use this to gauge where they stand socially or personally, often leading to either motivation (upward comparison) or improved self-esteem (downward comparison).
Simple Example:
After getting a 75% on a psychology test, you ask your friends what they got. If they all got 60%, you feel better (downward comparison). If they all got 95%, you might feel inferior and study harder next time (upward comparison).
