Social Psychology Vocabulary

Social Psychology

The study of how an individuals thoughts, feelings and actions are affected by the actual, imagined, or symbolically represented presence of other people

Attribution Theory

The study of how people explain the causes of behavior and events, either by attributing them to internal factors (like personality) or external factors (like a situation)

Dispositionism vs. Situationism

Dispositionism attributes behavior to internal traits and personality whereas situationist attributes behavior to external circumstances and context

Fundamental attribution error and the self serving bias

The Fundamental Attribution Error is the tendency to overemphasize personal traits and underestimate situational factors in others behaviors

Self serving bias is the tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors

Attitude

A learned tendency to evaluate in a certain way, either positively or negatively

Peripheral route to persuasion vs. central route to persuasion

Peripheral route to persuasion relies on superficial cues while central route to persuasion relies on logical arguments and evidence

Foot in the door phenomenon vs. door in the face phenomenon

The foot in the door phenomenon is the idea of asking for something small to get your “foot in the door” and then asking for something big

The door in the face phenomenon is kind of the opposite, it’s where you ask for something big and get denied but then ask for something small and get approved

Role

A coherent set of behaviors expected of an individual in a specific position within a group or social setting

Cognitive Dissonance

An unpleasant psychological state resulting from inconsistency between two or more elements in a cognitive system

Norms

Unwritten rules about how to balance in a particular group or society

Social Cognition

The spread of behaviors, attitudes, and affect through crowds and other types of social aggregates from one member to another

The chameleon effect

The unconscious mimicry of others behaviors and mannerisms

The mood effect

How a personas current mood influences their perceptions and behaviors

Empathy

Understanding a person from their frame of reference rather than one’s own

Mood linkage

The phenomenon where individuals in a group share similar mood

Positive herding

When people follow others positive behaviors leading to more widespread good actions

Conformity

Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to match the group standard

The Milgran Experiment

Conducted by Stanley Milgran in the 1960s, tested obedience to authority by having participants administer shocks, concluding that people are likely to follow orders even against their conscience

Social Control vs. Personal Control

Social control is the influence of society on behavior, while personal control is an individuals ability to influence their own behavior

Social facilitation vs. social inhibition vs. social loafing vs. deindividuation

Social facilitation is improved performance in the presence of others

Social inhibition is the worsened performance in the presence of others

Social loafing is reduced effort in tasks

Deindividuation is the loss of self awareness in group settings

Group polarization

When group discussions lead to more extreme positions than initially held

Groupthink

When a group desire for harmony leads to poor decision making

Prejudice

An unjustified negative attitude toward a group and it’s members

Stereotype

An overgeneralized belief about a group of people

Discrimination

Unfair treatment of individuals based on their group membership

Explicit vs. implicit prejudice

Explicit is conscious and openly shared while implicit is unconscious and automatic

The Just World Phenomenon

The belief that people get what they deserve

Outgroup bias vs. Ingroup bias (ethnocentrism)

Outgroup is negative attitudes towards those not in one’s group

Ingroup is positive attitude towards ones one group

Scapegoat Theory

Blaming others for one’s own problems

Other-race effect (own race bias)

The tendency to more easily recognize faces of one’s own race

Availability heuristics

Judging the likelihood of events based on how easily examples came to mind

Hindsight bias

Believing you know the outcome all along after it happens

Victim blaming

Holding the victim responsible for their own misfortune

Aggression

Any behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

Frustration Aggression Principle

Frustration leads to aggressive behavior

Instrumental vs. reactive aggression

Instrumental is goal oriented behavior to achieve something

Reactive aggression is impulsive and in response to a perceived threat or provocation

Social script

A cultural guide for how to act in various situations

Proximity and the mere exposure effect

Proximity - Being physically close to someone

Mere exposure effect - Tendency to like things more as we are exposed to them repeatedly

Attractiveness and Similarity

Attractiveness is the apes one person has to another

Similarity is the tendency to be attracted to those who share common traits with us

The Matching Hypothesis

The idea that people are more likely to form relationships with others who are equally attractive

Expectancy Value Theory

We indicate relationships with the most attractive people that we think will probably like us in return

Passionate love vs. companionate love

Passionate love is intense and emotions attraction

Companionate love is deep affection and attachment

Sternbergs Triangular Theory of Love

Intimacy, passion and commitment

• It’s good to know aspects of healthy relationships.

• Healthy relationships and connections with others are vital to a peaceful, productive, happy life.

• Healthy, happy relationships can help our own self-image/self-concepts.

• Theory can help us predict which relationships will thrive

Self-disclosure

The act of revealing personal information to others

Altruism

Selflessly helping others without expecting anything in return

The bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility

The bystander effect is when people are less likely to help in an emergency if others are present

The diffusion of responsibility is the tendency to feel less personal responsibility when others are around

Social exchange theory

The idea that human interactions are based on a cost-benefit analysis

Reciprocity norm vs. social responsibility norm

The reciprocity norm is the expectation to return factors

The social responsibility norm is the expectation to help those in need

Conflict

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

Social Traps

Situations where individuals act in their own self-interest, leading to negative outcomes for the group

Mirror-image perceptions

Mutual views where each side sees itself as ethical and the other as evil

Self-fulfilling prophecy

When a belief leads to its own fulfillment

Superordinate goals

Shared goals that require cooperation to achieve