Actor-observer bias or difference When we tend to make more personal attributions for the behavior of others than we do for ourselves and to make more situational attributions for our own behavior than for the behavior of others

Attribution The process of assigning causes to behaviors

Attributional style The type of attributions that we tend to make for events that occur to us.

Causal attribution The process of trying to determine the causes of people’s behavior

Consensus information When a situation seems to be the cause of a behavior if the situation creates the same behavior in most people

Consistency information When a situation seems to be the cause of a behavior if the situation always produces the behavior in the target

Distinctiveness information When a situation seems to be the cause of a behavior if the behavior occurs when the situation is present but not when it is not present

Entity theorists People who tend to believe that others’ traits are fundamentally stable and incapable of change

Fundamental attribution error When we tend to overestimate the role of person factors and overlook the impact of situations in explaining a behavior

Global attributions Those attributions that we feel apply broadly

Group attribution error The tendency to make attributional generalizations about entire outgroups based on a very small number of observations of individual members

Group-serving bias (or ultimate attribution error) The tendency to make internal attributions about our ingroups’ successes, and external attributions about their setbacks, and to make the opposite pattern of attributions about our outgroups

Halo effect The influence of a global positive evaluation of a person on perceptions of their specific traits

Incremental theorists People who believe that personalities change a lot over time and who therefore are more likely to make situational attributions for events.

Just world belief The belief that people get what they deserve in life

Just world hypothesis The tendency to make attributions based on the belief that the world is fundamentally just

Learned helplessness The tendency to continually make external, stable, and global attributions for our behavior

Negative attributional style The tendency to explain negative events by referring to our own internal, stable, and global qualities

Nonverbal behavior Any type of communication that does not involve speaking, including facial expressions, body language, touching, voice patterns, and interpersonal distance

Person perception The process of learning about other people

Personal (or internal or dispositional) attribution When we decide that the behavior was caused primarily by the person

Positive attributional style Ways of explaining events that are related to high self-esteem, including a tendency to explain negative events experienced by referring to external, unstable, and specific qualities

Recency effect When information that comes later is given more weight

Self-handicapping When we make statements or engage in behaviors that help us create a convenient external attribution for potential failure

Self-serving attributions Attributions that help us meet our desire to see ourselves positively

Self-serving bias The tendency to attribute our successes to ourselves, and our failures to others and the situation

Situational attribution When we determine that a behavior was caused primarily by the situation

Specific attributions Those attributions that we see as more unique to particular events.

Stable attributions Those attributions that we think will be relatively permanent

Stereotype The positive or negative beliefs that we hold about the characteristics of social group

Trait ascription bias A tendency for people to view their own personality, beliefs, and behaviors as more variable than those of others

Transactional leaders Leaders who work with their subordinates to help them understand what is required of them and to get the job done

Unrealistic optimism The tendency to be overly positive about the likelihood that negative things will occur to us and that we will be able to effectively cope with them if they do

Unstable attributions Those attributions that are expected to change over time