chapter 14: social psychology

social cognition

applies many of the concepts that are in the field of cognition, such as memory and biases, to help explain how people think about themselves and others

attitude

a set of beliefs and feelings

mere exposure effect

states that the more one is exposed to something, the more one will come to like it

central route to persuasion

involves deeply processing the content of the message

peripheral route to persuasion

involves other aspects of the message including the characteristics of the person imparting the message, the communicator

Richard LaPiere

conducted a study where he traveled throughout the West Coast to visit many hotels and restaurants with an Asian couple to see how they would be treated

cognitive dissonance theory

based on the idea that people are motivated to have consistent attitudes and behaviors

Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith

conducted an experiment about cognitive dissonance where participants performed a boring task and were asked to lie and tell the next subject that they had enjoyed the task

compliance strategies

people use certain strategies to get others to comply with their wishes

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

suggests that if you can get people to agree to a small request, they will become more likely to a follow-up request that is larger

door-in-the-face phenomenon

argues that after people refuse something large, they will most likely have a follow-up request that seems more reasonable

norms of reciprocity

when you feel compelled to do something for someone who did something for you

attribution theory

tries to explain how people determine the cause of what they observe

dispositional or person attribution

when someone tells you a positive thing about themselves, it forces you to give that same attribution to them, or forces you to act differently (positively) towards them

situation attribution

if someone says something positive about themselves, it could've been influenced by other environmental/situational factors

person-stable attribution

infer that an event or behavior is due to unchanging factors

person-unstable attribution

infer that an event or behavior is due to temporary factors

situation-stable attribution

when the cause of a situation is unchanging

situation-unstable attribution

when the cause of a situation is temporary

Harold Kelly

had a theory that people make attributions based on three kinds of information

consistency

refers to how similarly the individual acts in the same situation over time

distinctiveness

refers to how similar these situations are to other situations which we have seen from the same individual

consensus

asks us to consider how others in the same situation have responded

self-fulfilling prophecy

the idea that the expectations we have about others can influence the way those others behave

Rober Rosenthal and Leniore Jacobson

conducted the “Pygmalion in the Classroom” experiment; a study about self-fulfilling prophecy

fundamental attribution error

when looking at the behavior of others, people tend to overestimate the importance of dispositional factors and underestimate the role of situational factors

collectivist cultures

a person’s link to various groups such as family or company is stressed

individualistic cultures

the importance and uniqueness of the individual are stressed

false-consensus effect

the tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who agree with them

self-serving bias

the tendency takes more credit for good outcomes than for bad ones

just-world bias

people evidence a bias toward thinking that bad things happen to bad people, in which misfortunes befall people who deserve them

stereotypes

ideas about what members of different groups are like and these expectations may influence the way we interact with members of the groups

prejudice

undeserved, usually negative, attitude toward a group of people

ethnocentrism

the belief that one’s culture is superior to others

discrimination

instead of an attitude, an action is done negatively against someone

in-group

members of someone’s own group

out-group

members of other groups

out-group homogeneity

people tend to see members of their in-group as more diverse than members in the out-groups

in-group bias

a preference for one’s own group, is thought to stern from people’s belief that they themselves are good people, so the people with who they share group membership are thought to be good as well

contact theory

states that contact between hostile groups will reduce animosity, but only if the groups are made to work toward a goal that benefits all and necessitated the participation of all

superordinate goal

a goal that benefits all and necessitates the participation of all

Muzafer Sherif

his camp study illustrated how easily out-group biases can be created and how superordinate goals can be used to unite formerly antagonistic groups

instrumental aggression

the aggressive act is intended to secure a particular end

hostile aggression

a type of aggression that is committed in response to a perceived threat or insult

frustration-aggression hypothesis

holds that the feeling of frustration makes aggression more likely

prosocial behavior

factors that make people more likely to help one another

bystander intervention

the conditions under which people nearby are more and less likely to help someone in trouble

bystander effect

the larger the number of people who witness an emergency situation, the less likely anyone is to intervene

diffusion of responsibility

the larger the group of people who witness a problem, the less responsible any one individual feels to help

pluralistic ignorance

people seem to decide what constitutes appropriate behavior in a situation by looking at others

similarity

we are drawn to people that are similar to us

proximity

people closer to us are people that we are more likely to be attracted to

reciprocal liking

the more someone likes you, the more you will probably like that person

self-disclosure

a term often used for liking and loving studies

social facilitation

the presence of others improves task performance

conformity

the tendency of people to go along with the views or actions of others

Soloman Asch

conducted an experiment where they brought participants into a room with confederates and asked them to make a series of simple judgments

obedience studies

focus on participant’s willingness to do what another asks them to do

Stanley Milgram

conducted a study for obedience studies where his participants were told that they were taking part in a study about teaching and learning and they were assigned to play the part of the teacher, while the learner was a confederate

norms

rules about how group members should act

roles

refers to the social position people have

social loafing

taking advantage of being part of a group, individuals do. not put in as much effort when acting as part of a group as they do when acting alone

group polarization

the tendency of a group to make more extreme decisions than the group members would make individually

groupthink

a term that was coined by Irving Janis, and describes the tendency of some groups to make bad decisions, occurs when group members suppress their thoughts about the ideas supported by the group

Irving Janis

coined the term “groupthink”

deindividuation

loss of self-restraint occurs when group members feel anonymous and aroused

Phillip Zimbardo

conducted a prison experiment where a group of Stanford students was to either play the role of a prison guard or prisoner