Page 448 - The Social Animal

Glossary

actor-observer bias: the tendency to see other people’s behavior as caused
by their dispositions, but to attribute one’s own behavior to situational factors
aggressive action: a behavior aimed at causing either physical or psycholog-
ical pain

aggressive stimulus: an object associated with aggressive responses (e.g., a
gun) that can increase the probability of aggression by its mere presence
altruism: any act that benefits another person but does not benefit the
helper; often involves some personal cost to the helper
amygdala: the area in the core of the brain associated with aggressive
behaviors
attitude: an enduring evaluation—positive or negative—of people, objects,
and ideas; attitudes have an evaluative/emotional component, as well as a
cognitive component
attitude accessibility: the strength of the association between an object and
a person’s evaluation of that object; accessibility is measured by the speed
with which people can report how they feel about an issue or object
attitude heuristic: a shortcut way of making decisions by assigning objects
to either a favorable or an unfavorable category
attribution theory: a description of the way in which people explain the
causes of their own and other people’s behavior
authenticity: when one’s behavior and communication are consistent with
one’s feelings
availability heuristic: a mental rule of thumb whereby people base a judg-
ment on the ease with which they can bring something to mind

benevolent sexism: taking an attitude toward women that appears to be
positive—and even chivalrous—but that is stereotypic in nature; for example
believing that women need to be protected