Developing Negative Views Through Judgments

Knowledge of negative stereotypes can influence people’s performance. Stereotype threat creates extra performance pressure through apprehensiveness about conforming to negative stereotypes (Woolfolk &

Notably, the fundamental attribution error is a personal bias that is problematic in society. To emphasize, the fundamental attribution error is when individuals have the tendency to attribute people’s behavior to components of their character or personality, even when situational influences are producing the behavior (Textbook, page 171). An example of the fundamental attribution error operating in daily life is when a driver avoids hitting a pedestrian and causes an accident. In this

In the ways of the world it is easier to make assessments about people or objects based on a quick observation. For instance, almost everyone has heard the clique saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is a perfect scenario where looking at just what is holding the book together a decision is made on whether the book will be picked to read. In the same ways individuals tend to judge each other. Unfortunately, when quick judgments are snapped about a person or object the observer is missing out a bigger picture. This is defined as the fundamental attribution error. For example, a person kicking a vending machine over and over may not have an anger management problem. Although, the observer may make this assumption as they walk by not

Negative stereotypes could lead to many negative consequences. Fiske (2014), a professor of University of Massachuse refer that stereotypes are automatic responses, which have an impact on individuals’ decision

Attribution theory: an attempt when individuals observe behavior to determine whether it is internally or externally caused

It is explained that “almost any stereotype is true in some way” (73). They can be another form of a mindbug, which can lead one to judge or treat others in a way that they might not have if there was no stereotype associated with them in the first place. When people assume that all stereotypes are true, they begin to judge others based off of those stereotypes. For example, the stereotypes “Old people are forgetful” or “Women are nurturing” or “Asians are good at math” lead people to associate those thoughts with all elderly, all Asians, and all women which can drive our judgement of one another. The human mind tends to group traits together into categories which then affects our behavior. For example, when an individual is sick they go to a clinic, and they can place the doctors and nurses into a category as someone to trust and someone who is going to help them based on their clothing and behavior. This behavior then affects how the patient acts in that

Fritz Heider (1958) focuses on the internal and external attribution, which suggests why people behave a certain way according to their character or attitudes (external attribution) or the implication as to why an individual behaves a certain way due to the situation there in. “When we explain our own behavior, we are sensitive to how behavior changes with the situation” (Idson & Mischel, 2001). The significances of making a conclusion, gives direction and probability, which may help determine why a person may or may not act a certain way based on what the evidence shows. The implication of a certain behavior depends on the source to which it is attributed. For example: If Pat assumes that growing up isolated from her surroundings is normal, she won’t perceive it as non-normal. “The way we explain others’ actions, attributing them to the person or the situation, can have important real-life effects” (Fincham & Bradbury, 1993; Fletcher et., 1990). “A person must decide whether to attribute another’s friendliness to romantic interest “ (Myers, D. G.

There are three major perspectives on stereotypes: Psychodynamic perspective, sociocultural perspectives and Cognitive perspectives. Psychodynamic perspective argues that stereotypes serve intra-psychic needs - protect self against anxiety (ego defense mechanisms); self-esteem benefits to viewing outgroup negatively. If stereotypes are to change, alternatives must be supplied for protecting against anxiety. Sociocultural argues that stereotypes are made by society and that for stereotypes to change new stereotypes need to be made. Cognitive Perspectives suggest that categorization is fundamental - simplifies, organizes, allows predictability. Stereotypes guide information processing to produce a bias that maintains the status quo. Attend to, notice stereotype-consistent information, make stereotype-consistent inferences, and recall stereotype-consistent information better, and so on.

Social cognition is defined as the ways in which people think about themselves and the social world, including how they select, interpret, remember, and use social information(Gilovich). In the article “Some Systematic Biases of Everyday Judgement” by Thomas Gilovich, he addresses several concepts based on the assertion that faulty processes of reasoning and judgment can cause a person to falsely interpret the events of their everyday lives. The first concept that Gilovich refers to is what is called the “Copmared to what?” problem, which states that people tend to be overly impressed with some statistic or fact without realizing that its true value can only be assessed in comparison to some other factor. An example used in the article states that a 1986 article in Discover magazine claims that ninety percent of plane crash survivors who were interviewed knew where the escape routes were beforehand.

In our society, when people encounter someone, the first concern appearing in their minds about that person are race, gender, and appearance that are crucial since it can determine how they relate to the person. That consumption mostly comes from stereotype, the firm thoughts that people make about a particular group of people based on observation of several members of the group. The advantage of stereotype is helping people respond rapidly to their situations by applying the same thoughts to the similar experience, but that applying may be incorrect because individuals are different. That black people are good at athletics, or Asians are wealthy are positive stereotypes. Conversely, that Latinos commit illegal immigration, black people are associated with urban crime, or young Asians are gangs are negative stereotypes. That indicates the existence of both positive and negative stereotypes in the society; however, the negative stereotypes are likely

Combining the concepts of the Fundamental Attribution Error and the Actor-Observer Bias, when we predict others' behavior, we are likely to overestimate the role of dispositional causes. When we predict our own behaviors, we are likely to see our behaviors are caused by situational factors.

One such theory from the Myer’s text that relates to human nature is “fundamental attribution theory,” defined as the “tendency for observers to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition when analyzing other’s behavior.”

In testing whether or not stereotypes are used in place of justifications for biases and prejudices, the researchers assessed separately

Attribution explains we think of for why particular person is behaving a certain way. We usually attribute our own bad behavior in light of a situation. For example, I might not be ready for group presentation so my group ruined the presentation. I can say to myself that “I was really busy this week. I had so many thigs to do.” We make attributions about other’s behavior by figuring out the cause that can cause the behavior, when the behavior is different from what we expected. There are two different types of attribution, situational attribution or external attribution, an explanation that puts the cause of the behavior outside the control of a person, and dispositional attribution or internal attribution, an explanation that puts the cause

Generally speaking, bias comes in three forms: 1) prejudice, or generally negative feelings and evaluations of individuals because of their group membership; 2) stereotypes, which are overgeneralized beliefs about the characteristics of group members; 3) discrimination or inequitable treatment. Bias may also be conscious and intentional (explicit) or unconscious and automatically activated (implicit). 25 It is understood that people “acquire stereotypes to help them satisfy the goal of processing and storing information in a manner that is efficient and economical in terms of the mental energy and time