Unit 4 Social Psychology and Personality Review

Flashcards covering key concepts in social psychology and personality theories.

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

Person Perception

The process of forming impressions of others.

Halo Effect

The tendency for an impression created in one area to influence opinion in another area.

Illusory Correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists.

Social Comparison Theory

The theory that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others.

Relative Deprivation

The experience of being deprived of something to which one believes to be entitled.

Ingroup/Outgroup Bias

The tendency to favor one's own group (ingroup) over another group (outgroup).

Outgroup Homogeneity Bias

The perception that members of an outgroup are more similar to one another than they really are.

Attribution Theory

A theory that examines how people determine the causes of behavior.

Dispositional Attributions

Attributing behavior to internal factors such as personality or character.

Situational Attributions

Attributing behavior to external factors such as situational variables.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

A style of explaining negative events in a way that emphasizes positive outcomes.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

A style of explaining negative events in a way that emphasizes negative outcomes.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute positive events to one's own character but attribute negative events to external factors.

Actor/Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own actions to situational factors while attributing others' actions to their character.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behaviors.

Locus of Control

The extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them.

External Locus of Control

The belief that outcomes are influenced by external factors.

Internal Locus of Control

The belief that outcomes are a result of one's own actions.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs.

Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes that influence a person's feelings and behavior at an unconscious level.

Stereotype

A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Prejudice

A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

Scapegoat Theory

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Ethnocentrism

The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.

Discrimination

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people.

Bias

A tendency to favor one group over another.

Just-World Phenomenon

The belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.

Attitude

A settled way of thinking or feeling about something.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

A theory that explains the changes in attitude from persuasive messages.

Central Route Persuasion

Persuasive messages that focus on the arguments presented.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Persuasive messages that focus on superficial cues rather than the message itself.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

The strategy of getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up with a smaller request.

Door-in-the-Face Phenomenon

The tactic of making a large request that is refused, followed by a smaller request.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort experienced by a person who holds two or more contradictory beliefs.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency to hold on to one's beliefs even when faced with contradictory information.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon whereby people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.

Conformity

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms.

Social Influence Theory

A theory that describes how individuals change their attitudes or behavior in response to social influence.

Obedience

Compliance with commands given by an authority figure.

Social Roles

The part people play as members of a social group.

Social Norms

Expected standards of conduct, which influence behavior.

Individualistic Cultures

Cultures that emphasize personal achievement and independence.

Collectivist Cultures

Cultures that emphasize group goals and interdependence.

Multiculturalism

The presence of, or support for, the presence of multiple cultural groups in a society.

Groupthink

A phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity results in an incorrect or poor decision.

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness in groups, which can lead to atypical behavior.

Group Polarization

The tendency of group members to move toward a more extreme position than they held individually.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Social Facilitation

The tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone.

Social Inhibition

A decrease in performance when in the presence of others.

Altruism

Selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Social Debt

The feeling of obligation to repay someone for a favor.

Reciprocity Norm

The expectation that people will respond favorably to each other by returning benefits for benefits.

Social Responsibility Norm

The expectation that people will help those who depend on them.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The reduction of the sense of urgency to help someone involved in an emergency situation when other people are equally able to help.

Social Loafing

The phenomenon in which individuals put in less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

Social Trap

A situation in which individuals or groups are drawn towards immediate rewards that later lead to negative consequences.

Prisoner’s Dilemma

A standard example of a game theory situation where two individuals can either cooperate with or betray one another.

Conflict Resolution

The process of resolving a dispute or a conflict by meeting each side's needs and addressing their interests.

Superordinate Goals

Goals that can only be achieved by cooperation between two or more parties.

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

Psychologists who study human behavior in organizations and the workplace.

Burnout

A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress.

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Psychodynamic Theories

Theories that view personality as shaped by underlying psychological forces, often unconscious.

Psychoanalysis

A method of psychological therapy that aims to treat mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind.

Id

The part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest.

Ego

The part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious.

Superego

The ethical component of the personality and provides the moral standards by which the ego operates.

Pleasure Principle

The instinctual seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain to satisfy biological and psychological needs.

Reality Principle

The ability of the mind to assess the reality of the external world, and to act upon it accordingly.

Unconscious

The part of the mind that is inaccessible to the conscious mind but affects behavior and emotions.

Preconscious

The part of the mind that is not currently in focal awareness but can be accessed.

Conscious

The thoughts and feelings that an individual is aware of at any given moment.

Defense Mechanisms

Psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings.

Rationalization

The cognitive distortion of “the facts” to make an event or an impulse less threatening.

Repression

The subconscious blocking of unpleasant emotions, impulses, or memories.

Projection

The act of attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to others.

Displacement

The redirection of emotions to a safer outlet.

Reaction Formation

A defense mechanism in which a person expresses the opposite of their true feelings.

Regression

Reverting to behaviors characteristic of an earlier stage of development.

Identification

The process wherein a person's or group's characteristics are assimilated into the self.

Denial

Refusal to accept reality or facts, effectively blocking external events from awareness.

Sublimation

Redirecting unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable actions.

Carl Jung

A psychologist who founded analytical psychology and introduced concepts like the collective unconscious and archetypes.

Collective Unconscious

The part of the unconscious mind that is derived from ancestral memory and experience.

Archetype

A typical example of a certain person or thing; universal symbols.

Alfred Adler

A psychologist who developed the theory of individual psychology and emphasized the importance of feeling of inferiority.

Compensation

A defense mechanism that involves counterbalancing perceived weaknesses by emphasizing strengths.

Behaviorism

A theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.

Humanism

A psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person.

Self-Concept

A person's perception of their own identity and personal worth.

Incongruence

The gap between a person's ideal self and actual self; often leads to feelings of frustration and disappointment.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Accepting and respecting others as they are without judgment or evaluation.

Hierarchy of Needs

A motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs.

Self-Actualization

The realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potential.

Social Cognitive Theory

A theory that emphasizes the influence of social experience on learning.

Reciprocal Determinism

The theory that a person's behavior is influenced by both personal factors and social environment.