12.1
Social psychology examines how people affect one another, and it looks at the power
of the situation. According to the American Psychological Association (n.d.), social
psychologists "are interested in all aspects of personality and social interaction,
exploring the influence of interpersonal and group relationships on human behavior.
The field of social psychology studies topics at both the intra- and interpersonal levels.
Intrapersonal topics (those that pertain to the individual) include emotions and attitudes,
the self, and social cognition (the ways in which we think about ourselves and others)
Situational and Dispositional Influences on Behavior
Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our
immediate environment and surroundings.
In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors
(Heider, 1958).
An internal factor is an attribute of a person and includes personality traits and
temperament.
Fundamental Attribution Error
According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors
as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume
that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the
power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the
behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This
erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution error
The fundamental attribution error is so powerful that people often overlook obvious
situational influences on behavior.
The halo effect refers to the tendency to let the overall impression of an individual color
the way in which we feel about their character.
Is the Fundamental Attribution Error a Universal Phenomenon
People from an individualistic culture, that is, a culture that focuses on individual
achievement and autonomy, have the greatest tendency to commit the fundamental
attribution error. Individualistic cultures, which tend to be found in western countries
,such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, promote a focus on the
individual.
people from a collectivistic culture, that is, a culture that focuses on communal
relationships with others, such as family, friends, and community, are less likely to
commit the fundamental attribution error
-Collectivistic cultures, which tend to be found in east Asian countries and in Latin
American and African countries, focus on the group more than on the individual
,Masuda and Nisbett (2001) demonstrated that the kinds of information that people
attend to when viewing visual stimuli (e.g., an aquarium scene) can differ significantly
depending on whether the observer comes from a collectivistic versus an individualistic
culture.
, -Japanese participants were much more likely to recognize objects that were presented
when they occurred in the same context in which they were originally viewed.
Manipulating the context in which object recall occurred had no such impact on
American participants. Other researchers have shown similar differences across
cultures.
Actor-Observer Bias
One reason is that we often don’t have all the information we need to make a situational
explanation for another person’s behavior. The only information we might have is what
is observable. Due to this lack of information we have a tendency to assume the
behavior is due to a dispositional, or internal, factor. When it comes to explaining our
own behaviors, however, we have much more information available to us.
The actor-observer bias is the phenomenon of attributing other people’s behavior to
internal factors (fundamental attribution error) while attributing our own behavior to
situational forces
As actors of behavior, we have more information available to explain our own behavior.
However as observers, we have less information available; therefore, we tend to default
to a dispositionist perspective
Social psychology examines how people affect one another, and it looks at the power
of the situation. According to the American Psychological Association (n.d.), social
psychologists "are interested in all aspects of personality and social interaction,
exploring the influence of interpersonal and group relationships on human behavior.
The field of social psychology studies topics at both the intra- and interpersonal levels.
Intrapersonal topics (those that pertain to the individual) include emotions and attitudes,
the self, and social cognition (the ways in which we think about ourselves and others)
Situational and Dispositional Influences on Behavior
Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our
immediate environment and surroundings.
In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors
(Heider, 1958).
An internal factor is an attribute of a person and includes personality traits and
temperament.
Fundamental Attribution Error
According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors
as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume
that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the
power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the
behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This
erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution error
The fundamental attribution error is so powerful that people often overlook obvious
situational influences on behavior.
The halo effect refers to the tendency to let the overall impression of an individual color
the way in which we feel about their character.
Is the Fundamental Attribution Error a Universal Phenomenon
People from an individualistic culture, that is, a culture that focuses on individual
achievement and autonomy, have the greatest tendency to commit the fundamental
attribution error. Individualistic cultures, which tend to be found in western countries
,such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, promote a focus on the
individual.
people from a collectivistic culture, that is, a culture that focuses on communal
relationships with others, such as family, friends, and community, are less likely to
commit the fundamental attribution error
-Collectivistic cultures, which tend to be found in east Asian countries and in Latin
American and African countries, focus on the group more than on the individual
,Masuda and Nisbett (2001) demonstrated that the kinds of information that people
attend to when viewing visual stimuli (e.g., an aquarium scene) can differ significantly
depending on whether the observer comes from a collectivistic versus an individualistic
culture.
, -Japanese participants were much more likely to recognize objects that were presented
when they occurred in the same context in which they were originally viewed.
Manipulating the context in which object recall occurred had no such impact on
American participants. Other researchers have shown similar differences across
cultures.
Actor-Observer Bias
One reason is that we often don’t have all the information we need to make a situational
explanation for another person’s behavior. The only information we might have is what
is observable. Due to this lack of information we have a tendency to assume the
behavior is due to a dispositional, or internal, factor. When it comes to explaining our
own behaviors, however, we have much more information available to us.
The actor-observer bias is the phenomenon of attributing other people’s behavior to
internal factors (fundamental attribution error) while attributing our own behavior to
situational forces
As actors of behavior, we have more information available to explain our own behavior.
However as observers, we have less information available; therefore, we tend to default
to a dispositionist perspective
