Editing Self-perception theory (section)

{{Short description|Account of attitude formation developed by psychologist Daryl Bem}}
{{distinguish|Self-awareness|Self-concept|Self-consciousness|Self-image}}
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'''Self-perception theory''' ('''SPT''') is an account of [[Attitude (psychology)|attitude]] formation developed by [[psychologist]] [[Daryl Bem]].<ref>Bem, D. J. (1967). ) According to Myers & Twenge (2019) self-perception theory is when people are unaware of their attitudes, they assume they are based on their actions, much like someone is watching them.b
 [http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Motivation/Bem_1967_Self_perception.pdf Self-Perception: An Alternative Interpretation of Cognitive Dissonance Phenomena]. Psychological Review, 74, 183-200.</ref><ref>Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-Perception Theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 6, pp.1-62). New York: Academic Press.</ref> It asserts that people develop their attitudes (when there is no previous attitude due to a lack of experience, etc.—and the [[emotion]]al response is ambiguous) by observing their own [[behavior]] and concluding what attitudes must have caused it. The theory is counterintuitive in nature, as the [[conventional wisdom]] is that attitudes determine behaviors. Furthermore, the theory suggests that people induce attitudes without accessing internal cognition and mood states.<ref>Robak, R. W., Ward, A., & Ostolaza, K. (2005). Development of a General Measure of Individuals' Recognition of Their Self-Perception Processes. Psychology, 7, 337-344.</ref> The person interprets their own overt behaviors rationally in the same way they attempt to explain others' behaviors.