PSYCH 221 - Social Psychology - Exam III

Spring 2026 - Ilan Shrira

Social Influence

A change in overt behavior caused by real or imagined pressure from others

Conformity

Behavior change designed to match the actions of others

Compliance

Behavior change that occurs as a result of a direct request

Obedience

Compliance that occurs in response to a directive from an authority figure

Foot-In-The-Door Technique

A technique that increases compliance with a large request by first getting compliance with a smaller, related request

Participant Observation

A research approach in which the researcher inflitrates the setting to be studied and observes its working from within

Rare Value

Marketers have found that simply associating an item with an attractive or popular person increases its perceived value

Expert Power

The capacity to influence other people as a function of a person’s presumed wisdom or knowledge

Social Validation

An interpersonal way to locate and validate the correct choice

Descriptive Norm

A norm that defines what behaviors people typically perform in a given situation

Injunctive Norm

A norm that describes what is commonly approved or disapproved in a situation

Norm of Reciprocity

The norm that requires that we repay others with the form of behavior they have given us

Door-In-The-Face Technique

A technique that increases compliance by beginning with a large favor likely to be rejected and then retreating to a more moderate favor

That’s-Not-All Technique

A technique that increases compliance by “sweetening” an offer with additional benefits

Disrupt-Then-Reframe Technique

A tactic that operates to increase compliance by disrupting one’s initial, resistance-laden view of a request and quickly reframing the request in more favorable terms

Reactance Theory

Brehm’s theory that we react against threats to our freedoms by reasserting those freedoms, often by doing the opposite of what we are being pressured to do

Personal Commitment

Anything that connects an individual’s identity more closely to a position or course of action

Low-Ball Technique

Gaining a commitment to an arrangement and then raising the cost of carrying out the arrangement

Bait-and-Switch Technique

Gaining a commitment to an arrangement, then making the arrangement unavailable or unappealing and offering a more costly arrangement

Labeling Technique

Assigning a label to an individual and then requesting a favor that is consistent with the label

Passion

Factor on love scales composed of items tapping romantic attraction and sexual desire

Intimacy

Factor on love scales composed of items tapping feelings of close bonding with another

Decision/commitment

Factor on love scales composed of items tapping decision that one is in love with and committed to another

Factor analysis

A statistical technique for sorting test items or behaviors into conceptually similar groupings

Companionate Love

Affection and tenderness for those whose lives are entwined with our own

Passionate Love

A state of intense longing for union with another

Nurturant Love

Feelings of tenderness and concern, central to parents caring for their children

Attachment Love

Desire to be cared for, and protected by, another person

Sociosexual Orientation

Individual differences in the tendency to prefer either unrestricted sex (without the necessity of love) or restricted sex (only in the context of a long-term, loving relationship)

Two-Factor Theory of Love

The theory that love consists of general arousal, which is attributed to the presence of an attractive person and labeled as love

Need to Belong

The human need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships

Secure Base

Comfort provided by an attachment figure, which allows the person to venture forth more confidently to explore the environment

Secure Attachment Style

Attachments marked by trust that the other person will continue to provide love and support

Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment Style

Attachments marked by fear of abandonment and the feeling that one’s needs are not being met

Avoidant Attachment Style

Attachments marked by defensive detachment from the other

Erotomania

A disorder involving the fixed (but incorrect) belief that one is loved by another, which persists in the face of strong evidence to the contrary

Monogamy

Marital custom involving two people, most typically one man married to one woman

Polygamy

Marital custom in which either one man marries more than one woman or one woman marries more than one man

Polyandry

Marital arrangement involving one woman and more than one husband

Polygyny

Marital arrangement involving one man and more than one wife

Equity Rule

Each person’s benefits and costs in a social relationship should be matched to the benefits and costs of the other

Need-Based Rule

Each person in a social relationship provides benefits as the other needs them, without keeping account of individual costs and benefits

Prosocial Behavior

Action intended to benefit another

Pure Altruism

Action intended solely to benefit another

Inclusive Fitness

A measure of success in passing on one’s genes, including directly, by producing one’s own offspring, and indirectly, by assisting one’s relatives who share common genes

Reciprocal Aid

Helping that occurs in return for prior help

Social Responsibility Norm

The societal rule that people should help those who need them to help

Bystander Effect

The tendency of a bystander to be less likely to help in an emergency if there are other onlookers present

Diffusion of Responsibility

The tendency for each group member to dilute personal responsibility for acting by spreading it among all other group members

Pluralistic Ignorance

The phenomenon in which people in a group misperceive the beliefs of others because everyone acts inconsistently with their beliefs

Personal Norms

The internalized beliefs and values that combine to form a person’s inner standards for behavior

Arousal/Cost-Reward Model

The view that observers of a victim’s suffering will want to help to relieve their own personal distress

Mood Management Hypothesis

The idea that people use helping tactically to manage their moods

Perspective Taking

The process of mentally putting oneself in another’s position

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

The presumption that when one empathizes with the plight of another, one will want to help that other for purely altruistic reasons

Empathetic Concern

Compassionate feelings caused by taking the perspective of a needy other