Social thinking + influence

Social psychology

The study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Attribution theory

We tend to explain the behavior of others as an aspect of either an internal disposition or the situationon

Fundamental attribution theory

Tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal dispositions rather than to the situations

Dipositional attribuiton

Infers a person's behavior is due to an internal cause such as a personality trait

(Someone is lazy for falling asleep in class)

Situational attribuition

Inferring that a behavior or event is caused by some factor relative to the situation

(Someone was up all night helping their family so they fell asleep in class)

Self serving bias

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Conformity

Adjusting behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Solomon asch

Social psychologist

researched the circumstances under which people would conform

Stanley Milgram

Social psychologist

Researched obedience

Obedience

Tendency to comply with orders, implied or real, from someone perceived as an authority

Attitude

Belief and feeling that predisposed someone to respond in a particular way to objects, people and events

Role

A set of expectations in a social setting that define how one ought to behave

Philip Zimbardo

American psychologists focused on heroism, cult behavior, and shyness

Cognitive dissonance

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are consistent

Alturism

acting to help someone else at some cost to oneself

John Darley and Bibb lantane

researched when a bystander would interfer

Bystander effect

tendency for a person to be less likely to give aid if others are present

foot in- the-door phenomenon

The tendency for people to comply with something if you start with a smaller request and work up to a bigger request

social facillitation

Improved performance on tasks in the presence of others

Social loafing

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Group polarization

Enhancement of a group’s already existing attitudes through discussion within the group

Groupthink

The mode of thinking occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of the alternatives