AP psuch unit 9

Attributions

Explaining why people behave the way they do → Ex: “He failed because he didn’t study.”

Dispositional attributions

Explaining behavior using personality/traits → Ex: “She’s late because she’s lazy.”

Situational attributions

Explaining behavior using the situation → Ex: “She’s late because of traffic.”

Actor/observer bias

You blame situations for yourself but traits for others → Ex: I fail = “test was hard”; you fail = “you didn’t study”

Fundamental attribution error

Overestimating personality and ignoring situation for others → Ex: Someone cuts you off → “they’re rude”

Self-serving bias

Taking credit for success, blaming outside for failure → Ex: Good grade = “I’m smart”; bad grade = “test was unfair”

Internal locus of control

Belief you control your outcomes → Ex: “I passed because I worked hard.”

External locus of control

Belief outside forces control outcomes → Ex: “I failed because the teacher hates me.”

Mere exposure effect

Liking something more just because you see it often → Ex: A song grows on you after hearing it a lot

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Expectation causes behavior that makes it true → Ex: Thinking you’ll fail → you don’t study → you fail

Social comparison

Comparing yourself to others → Ex: Checking your grade vs classmates

Upward social comparison

Comparing to someone better → Ex: Comparing your grades to the top student

Downward social comparison

Comparing to someone worse → Ex: Feeling better seeing someone score lower

Relative deprivation

Feeling worse off compared to others → Ex: Feeling poor because friends have nicer things

Stereotype

Generalized belief about a group → Ex: “All athletes are bad at school”

Cognitive load

Amount of mental effort being used → Ex: Hard to focus while multitasking

Prejudice

Negative attitude toward a group → Ex: Disliking someone because of their race

Discrimination

Acting on prejudice → Ex: Refusing to hire someone because of their race

Implicit attitudes

Unconscious beliefs/feelings → Ex: Automatically associating groups with traits

Just-world phenomenon

Belief people get what they deserve → Ex: “They’re poor because they didn’t work hard”

Out-group homogeneity bias

Seeing out-group members as all the same → Ex: “They all act alike”

In-group bias

Favoring your own group → Ex: Thinking your school is better

Ethnocentrism

Believing your culture is superior → Ex: Thinking your traditions are “right”

Belief perseverance

Holding onto beliefs despite evidence → Ex: Still believing a rumor after it’s false

Confirmation bias

Looking for info that supports beliefs → Ex: Only reading articles you agree with

Cognitive dissonance

Discomfort from conflicting thoughts/actions → Ex: Smoking but knowing it’s unhealthy

Social norms

Expected rules of behavior → Ex: Not talking loudly in a theater

Social influence theory

How people change behavior due to others → Ex: Dressing like friends to fit in

Normative social influence

Conforming to be liked → Ex: Laughing at a joke you don’t find funny

Informational social influence

Conforming because you think others are right → Ex: Copying answers when unsure

Persuasion

Changing someone’s attitude → Ex: Convincing a friend to watch a movie

Elaboration likelihood model

Two ways persuasion happens (deep vs shallow) → Ex: Thinking carefully vs just liking appearance

Central route

Persuasion using logic and facts → Ex: Being convinced by strong evidence

Peripheral route

Persuasion using surface features → Ex: Being convinced by a celebrity

Halo effect

One positive trait influences overall judgment → Ex: Attractive person seen as nice/smart

Foot-in-the-door technique

Small request leads to bigger one → Ex: Sign petition → later donate

Door-in-the-face technique

Big request rejected, then smaller accepted → Ex: Ask $100 → settle for $10

Conformity

Changing behavior to match group → Ex: Wearing what others wear

Obedience

Following orders from authority → Ex: Student follows teacher

Individualism

Focus on personal goals → Ex: Choosing career based on self

Collectivism

Focus on group goals → Ex: Choosing career to help family

Multiculturalism

Valuing multiple cultures → Ex: Celebrating different holidays

Group polarization

Group discussion strengthens opinions → Ex: Friends become more extreme

Groupthink

Group ignores alternatives to stay unified → Ex: Agreeing to avoid conflict

Diffusion of responsibility

Less responsibility in a group → Ex: No one helps in a crowd

Social loafing

Putting in less effort in group → Ex: Slacking on group project

Deindividuation

Losing self-awareness in group → Ex: Acting wild in a crowd

Social facilitation

Better performance around others → Ex: Running faster in a race

False consensus effect

Overestimating how much others agree → Ex: Thinking “everyone agrees with me”

Superordinate goals

Shared goals that reduce conflict → Ex: Rival groups work together

Social traps

Short-term gain hurts long-term → Ex: Overusing resources

Burnout

Exhaustion from prolonged stress → Ex: Feeling drained from nonstop schoolwork

Altruism

Helping others with no benefit → Ex: Donating anonymously

Prosocial behavior

Any behavior that helps others → Ex: Helping carry books

Social debt

Feeling you owe someone → Ex: Friend buys lunch → you repay

Social reciprocity norm

Expectation to return favors → Ex: Helping someone who helped you

Social responsibility norm

Helping those who need it → Ex: Helping someone injured

Bystander effect

Less likely to help when others are around → Ex: No one calls for help

Situational variables

Environmental factors affecting behavior → Ex: Being rushed reduces helping

Attentional variables

Whether you notice a situation → Ex: Not helping because you didn’t notice