spontaneous trait inference

a judgment about an individual’s personality traits that is made automatically (i.e., without awareness or intention), usually on the basis of observed behavior. More specifically, spontaneous trait association is the phenomenon by which people who hear an individual describe negative or positive behaviors in others attribute the qualities implied by those behaviors to the speaker.

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Psychology term of the day

December 26th 2024

thought insertion

a delusion in which the individual believes that thoughts have been irresistibly forced into his or her mind and ascribes these thoughts to outside sources.