John observed Gracie, an executive for a large accounting firm, behave in an aggressive and pushy manner with her subordinates. John now believes that most women executives are basically aggressive and pushy with their subordinates. John's overestimation of the relationship between women executives and the social traits of "pushy" and "aggressive" is referred to as

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John's overestimation of the relationship between women executives and the social traits of "pushy" and "aggressive" is an example of an illusory correlation, which refers to the perception of a relationship between two variables that does not actually exist or is much weaker than assumed. In this case, John's observation of Gracie's behavior is likely influencing his perception of all women executives, creating a false belief about a relationship between gender and workplace behavior.

John Observed Gracie, an Executive for a Large Accounting Firm