Actor-Observer Bias and Fundamental Attribution Error are different types of Attributional Bias in social psychology, which helps us to understand attribution of behavior. Attributional Bias is thoroughly explained in our article on Attribution Theory. Make sure you check it out. Actor-Observer Bias and Fundamental Attribution Error are basically two sides of the coin. Both these terms are concerned with the same aspect of Attributional Bias. While both these biases help us to understand a...| Psychestudy
Self-Serving Bias is best explained as a tendency to give ourselves credit when good things happen and to blame external or situational forces when negative things happen. Self-Serving can seem like an evasion of responsibility for our actions. Researchers have called self-serving bias a defense mechanism that we formulate to protect our self-esteem. Examples of Self Serving Bias There are plenty of real-world examples for self-serving bias. In a car accident, both parties involved blame the ...| Psychestudy
The Actor-Observer bias is best explained as a tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to internal causes while attributing our own actions to external causes. It is one of the types of attributional bias, that affects our perception and interaction with other people. We have an awesome article on Attribution Theory. Make sure you check it out. The actor-observer bias is seen to be more prevalent when the outcomes are negative. For instance, we are more likely to blame the situation o...| Psychestudy
Before learning about fundamental attribution error, you should first have a solid understanding of attribution theory. If you don’t know what that is, I recommend reading: Attribution Theory first. Attribution Theory In short, attribution theory states that we have a tendency to explain someone’s behavior in terms of their personality and disposition (Internal), or in terms of the situation (External). For example, Sheila failed her final exam. Rita automatically assumes that the reason ...| Psychestudy
During the World War 2, Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, homosexuals and other enemies of the state were slaughtered by the Nazis. The war criminals of the World War 2 later revealed in the trials following the war that they were merely following orders and could not be held accountable for their actions. Their defense was based on obedience. Any rational mind obviously refuses to believe such absurd justification of the horrendous actions that occurred during the holocaust. Stanley Milgram, a psycholog...| Psychestudy
America is the greatest country in the world! While it may not actually be true, it’s understandable for an American to say so. The individual does so in order to increase their self worth. This is an example of social identity theory. Social Identity Theory discusses the idea of a person’s sense of belonging based on the group they are in. In that regard, this is a perfect modern day example. Americans have a sense of belonging to the nation, which can be considered a group. The group wh...| Psychestudy
Definition Simply put, Social Learning Theory is a theory of learning and social behavior. But there’s more to learning. Social Learning Theory discusses the cognitive process that takes place in a social context which occurs after an individual is exposed to information through observation or direct instruction. Behavioral theories of learning suggest that behavior learning is solely driven by reinforcements. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory adds to the behavioral theories by placing emp...| Psychestudy
The feeling of discomfort which is caused by holding two alternate beliefs is described with the term cognitive dissonance. People like to feel that they are consistent with their beliefs or what they understand to be true. But what happens when they engage in a different belief or are involved in actions that are completely opposite of their previous belief. That is when Cognitive Dissonance occurs. The feeling of discomfort is referred to as dissonance and something must change in order to ...| Psychestudy
Definition The phenomenon which explains the likeliness of a person to take some sort of action to help someone in distress depending on the number of people present in the scene is regarded as bystander effect. If you witnessed a emergency situation happening in front of you, you would definitely take some sort of action right? Psychologists argue that it may not be the case as number of people present in the scene impacts how you (a person) would react. A basic understanding of this phenome...| Psychestudy
Cite this article as: Praveen Shrestha, "Social Loafing," in Psychestudy, December 13, 2017, https://www.psychestudy.com/social/social-loafing. Definition The concept that people are prone to put forward less effort when they are working in a group as opposed to when they are working alone is defined as social loafing. The idea of group works is seen as the way to improve the results in a certain task due to the collective skills, talents and effort of the individuals in the group. However, i...| Psychestudy
Cite this article as: Praveen Shrestha, "Weiner Attribution Theory," in Psychestudy, November 17, 2017, https://www.psychestudy.com/social/weiner-attribution-theory. Attribution theory was first developed by Fritz Heider in 1958. But, it was not able to cover every aspect and various different attribution theories were developed. Bernard Weiner, of the University of California at Los Angeles, developed what is now one of the popular theories of attribution. Weiner’s model of attribution is ...| Psychestudy
