Exam 3: Social Cognition: Understanding Ourselves and Others

John tells his coworker Alice that he finds her charming and attractive after they have just heard a stern lecture on avoiding sexual harassment in the workplace. Alice is likely to apply the principle and believe that_________________.

Even though there are relatively few professors of Chinese literature and many postal workers in the U.S., students guessed that a man who spoke Chinese and reads a lot was probably a Chinese literature professor rather than a postal worker. This is an example of using

Most people view their future prospects optimistically and believe that they possess more favorable characteristics and abilities than the average person. This is because they are motivated to

Why do people desire positive self-regard?

In a study on mortality salience, one group of students with Christian beliefs was made highly aware of their mortality by writing about what will happen to them when they die. In the control group, similar students completed a questionnaire that did not mention death. Researchers found that

Thinking about one's death often results in greater self-protection efforts.

Using the covariation model, explain a scenario in which one would likely make an internal attribution after Rosa, a 7-year old girl, told her classmate, Sally, to shut up. Do the same for an external and an interaction attribution.

Thousands of U.S. banks went out of business in the 1930s as a result of customers withdrawing their deposits because they feared that the banks were running out of money. This is an example of

Name and describe the three goals of social cognition. Discuss at least one person and one situation factor that affects the achievement of each one.

Taking personal credit for successes and blaming external forces for our failures is called the