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ultimate attribution error

the tendency for persons from one group (the ingroup) to determine that any bad acts by members of an outgroup—for example, a racial or ethnic minority group—are caused by internal attributes or traits rather than by outside circumstances or situations, while viewing their positive behaviors as merely exceptions to the rule or the result of luck. Conversely, ingroup members will overestimate the effects of their own perceived internal attributes—for example, intelligence—and underplay situational forces when evaluating their successes, and they will place more emphasis on external factors when explaining their failures or faults. See also fundamental attribution error; group-serving bias. [first described in 1979 by U.S. psychologist Thomas F. Pettigrew]

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Psychology term of the day

December 22nd 2024

predictive discriminant analysis

predictive discriminant analysis

a multivariate procedure that distinguishes between two or more categories of a future outcome on the basis of several current assessments of predictor or explanatory variables. More specifically, the technique combines variables measured at one point in time to produce the highest possible association with different levels or categories of an outcome measured at a subsequent point in time. For example, a researcher might measure daily levels of exercise, cholesterol, and average stress and use this information to predict which individuals will have a diagnosis of serious, mild, or no heart disease 6 months later. Compare descriptive discriminant analysis.