PSY1011 Social Cognition and Influence

Flashcards on Social Psychology, covering attitudes, social cognition, prejudice, and attribution.

Social Psychology

The study of how people influence others' behavior, beliefs, and attitudes.

Need to Belong Theory

Humans have a biological need for interpersonal bonds; belonging and being socially accepted are fundamental.

Attitude

A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

Attitude Strength

Extent to which an attitude helps in shaping our thinking, persists over time, and resists change.

Attitude Importance

Significance of the attitude.

Attitude Accessibility

Automatic activation from memory.

Implicit Attitudes

Formed without conscious awareness.

Explicit Attitudes

Deliberately formed and easy to report.

Cognitive Complexity

Dimensions on which attitudes differ.

Attitudinal Ambivalence

Conflicting feelings.

Attitudinal Coherence

Extent to which an attitude is internally consistent.

Theory of Planned Behavior

Linking beliefs to behavior and action, including specific attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

A model that describes two routes to persuasion: central (more convincing) and peripheral (low-level arguments).

Cognitive Dissonance

The inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony.

Self Perception Theory

When people are unsure about their feelings, they infer them by observing their own behavior.

Schemas

Organized patterns of thought.

Identity

Perceptions of ourself, values, and beliefs, shaped by the environment.

First Impressions

Our initial evaluation of a person which could be positive or negative.

Halo Effect

Positive qualities are clustered together; ‘what is beautiful is also good’.

Stereotype

A belief about a group’s characteristics that we apply to most members of that group; often inaccurate and overgeneralized.

Prejudice

Negative attitudes.

Ultimate Attribution Error

Attributing the negative behavior of entire groups to their dispositions.

In-Group Bias

Tendency to favor individuals inside our group relative to members outside our group.

Out-Group Homogeneity

Tendency to view all people outside our group as highly similar.

Subtle Racism

Political correctness – people not expressing their actual attitudes, so they appear different.

Implicit Racism

Unknowingly act in discriminatory ways.

Explicit Racism

Deliberate/intentional harmful attitudes towards people of minority.

Ostracism

Being ignored or rejected; exclusion from a group.

Attribution

Attempt at understanding our experiences, behaviors, and the behavior of others.

Internal Attribution

Behavior explained due to personal factors like traits, attitudes, feelings, etc.

External Attribution

Behavior explained due to situational factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency to explain behavior in terms of internal factors and to underestimate the impact of situational factors.

Actor-Observer Effect

Tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to internal causes while attributing our own actions to external causes.

Self Serving Bias

Seeing ourselves in a more positive manner than others see us; taking credit for success but attributing failure to external causes.