AP Psychology - Social & Positive Psychology

These flashcards cover key concepts, theories, and definitions from the lecture notes on Social and Positive Psychology.

Attribution Theory

The way we explain (attribute) others’ behaviors by crediting the situation or the person’s disposition/personality.

Dispositional Attributions

relates to INTERNAL qualities

Situational Attributions

relates to EXTERNAL circumstances

Explanatory Style

How people make sense of good and bad events in their lives, typically categorized as optimistic or pessimistic.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Views situations as temporary. Focused on what can be controlled. Don’t blame themselves. Leads to happiness and resilience.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Views situation as permenant. Blames themself. Believes they can’t change or control anything.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Overestimating internal influences and underestimating external influences when judging the behavior of others.

Actor-Observer Bias

Attributing the behavior of others to internal causes while attributing our own behavior to external causes.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to take credit for good outcomes and blame external factors for negative outcomes.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for that stimulus.

Halo Effect

Judging a person’s quality based on unrelated attributes, often physical appearance.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When a person's expectations or beliefs lead to behaviors that confirm those expectations.

Social Comparison

Evaluating oneself based on comparisons to others.

Upward Social Comparison

Compare to someone you view as superior. Leads to feeling inadequate, motivating someone to improve.

Downward Social Comparison

Compare to someone you view as inferior. Boosts self esteem but can stunt one’s personal growth.

Stereotype

Specific belief or assumption about individual based solely on the group they belong to.

Prejudice

Negative attitude or feeling toward an individual based solely on their membership to a particular social group. Most commonly used on those in unfamiliar cultures.

Discrimination

Negative action towards an individual as a result of the group they belong to.

Implicit Attitudes/Bias

Attitudes or biases that people hold but may not be aware of or acknowledge.

Just World Phenomenom

People get what they deserve. The world is fair. Leads to victim blaming.

Out Group Homogeneity Bias

Perceiving others in your out group as more similar than they actually are. Leads to stereotyping.

In Group Bias

Tendency to favor your own group over others, leading to unfair positive judgement of those members in the group.

Ethnocentrism

Belief that your own culture is superior or that your cultures way is correct.

Contact Theory

Way to reduce prejudice. Contact between hostile groups will reduce animosity.

Reaching a Superordinate Goal:

Way to reduce prejudice. Goal benefits all members and all must work together.

Belief Perserverance

When someone holds onto their original beliefs, even if they’re wrong.

Cognitive Dissonance

The discomfort experienced when holding conflicting beliefs or values, leading to justification of behavior.

Confirmation Bias

Tendency for a person to search for information that confirms preconceptions. Rejects informations that denies preconceptions.

Persuasion

Influencing someone’s attitude, belief of behaviors.

Elaborative Likelihood Model

People are more likely to process persuasive messages when capable to and motivated.

Central Route to Persuasion

Person is persuaded to act based on arguments or content of message.

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

Person evaluates a message based on surface level characteristics such as physical attractiveness or background music rather than content of the message.

Foot in the Door Phenomenom

Persuasion strategy to get a person to agree to a modest first request as a set up for a later, much larger request.

Door in the Face Phenomenon

Persuasion strategy of suggesting a big request that will be refused, which you counter with a much smaller favor.

Social Norms

Rules for how people should act in a given group.

Social Influence Theory

Explains how people thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are affected by others.

Informational Social Influence

When our opinions or behavior change when we conform to people who we believe have accurate information.

Normative Social Influence

when a person changes their opinions or behavior to be accepted by a group and to avoid social rejection.

Prisoners Dilemma

A situation where individuals have an incentive to make a choice that will cause a worse outcome for others in the group; conflict between individual and collective interest.

Compliance

Involves changing behavior in response to a request.

Conformity

Adjusting one’s behavior to match others or a group and adopting the behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of other group member.

Social Roles

Involves changing one’s behavior to fit the expectations of a certain role (seen in Stanford prison experiment)

Obedience

Involves altering one’s behavior in response to a demand from an authority figure.

Groupthink

When individuals in a group lose the ability to think independently due to the group's consensus.

False Consensus Effect

A cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate how many others share their attitudes or beliefs. People tend to believe that their attitudes are more common than they actually are.

Social Facilitation

When performance increases on easy or well learned task in the presence of others.

Social Inhibition

When someone restraints or changes their behavior on others for fear of being judged.

Social Loafing

When individuals contribute less effort when members of a group.

Deindividuation

When someone loses the awareness as themselves as an individual and their perception of responsibility went in a group.

Group Polarization

When group members reinforce each other’s opinions, leading to more extreme or polarized opinions then members would have as individuals

Social Traps

A short term solution to a problem that ultimately leads to a long-term loss.

Social Reciprocity Norm

The expectation to return kindness and favors.

Social Responsibility Norm

To help those in need without expectation of payback.

Positive Psychology

A branch of psychology, focus on the character, strengths and behaviors that allow individuals to build a life of meaning and purpose.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when others are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The reduction in individual responsibility to act when others are present.

Positive Psychology

A branch of psychology focused on character strengths and behaviors that foster a life of meaning and purpose.

Well-being

Goal is to feel like you function well in the world.

Resilience

The ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity while maintaining well-being.

Grit

Perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals.

Gratitude

Practice of recognizing and appreciating good things in life.

Flow

State of being completely absorbed and focused on an activity in an effortless way; increases well-being.

Subjective Well Being

How individuals experience in perceived different aspects of their own well-being; impacts how people experience the quality of their lives.

Subjective Positive Experiences

Personal feelings and perceptions of well-being.

Objective Positive Experiences

Verifiable observable events that contribute to well being (Not based on emotion)

Virtues

Core aspects of human experience that allow us to survive and thrive.

Six Universal Virtues:

Wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, transcendence

Posttraumatic Growth

Positive psychological changes resulting from struggling with difficult life circumstances.