AP Psychology Unit 4 : Social Psychology and Personality

Based off fiveable. Covers 4.1 - 4.7, in order.

Actor/Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own behavior to situational factors while attributing others' behavior to dispositional factors.

Attribution Theory

A psychological framework explaining how people interpret and explain the causes of behavior and mental processes in themselves and others.

Attributions

Explanations that people make about the causes of behavior and mental processes.

Dispositional Attributions

Explanations for behavior based on internal qualities of a person, such as intelligence, personality, or character traits.

Downward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself to people perceived as worse off or less successful, which can enhance self-esteem.

Explanatory Style

The characteristic way in which people explain the causes of good and bad events in their own lives and in the lives of others.

External Locus Of Control

The belief that one's behavior and outcomes are primarily determined by external factors such as luck, fate, or forces beyond personal control.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate the influence of dispositional factors and underestimate the influence of situational factors when explaining others' behavior.

Internal Locus Of Control

The belief that one's behavior and outcomes are primarily determined by personal factors such as effort, ability, and personal responsibility.

Locus Of Control

A person's belief about the extent to which their behavior and outcomes are determined by internal factors (personal control) versus external factors (environmental or situational control).

Mere Exposure Effect

The tendency for people to develop a preference for something simply because they are repeatedly exposed to it over time.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

A tendency to attribute positive events to internal, stable causes and negative events to external, temporary causes.

Person Perception

The process by which individuals form impressions and judgments about other people's characteristics, traits, and behaviors.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

A tendency to attribute negative events to internal, stable causes and positive events to external, temporary causes.

Relative Deprivation

The feeling of dissatisfaction that arises from comparing one's own situation to that of others who are perceived as better off.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A situation in which a person's beliefs or expectations about themselves or others cause them to behave in ways that make those beliefs come true.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one's successes to internal factors and one's failures to external factors.

Situational Attributions

Explanations for behavior based on external circumstances or environmental factors that a person experiences.

Social Comparison

The process of evaluating oneself by comparing one's own characteristics, abilities, and opinions to those of other people.

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself to people perceived as better off or more successful, which can motivate improvement or lead to feelings of inadequacy.

Attitude Change

The process by which existing attitudes are modified or replaced in response to new information, experiences, or psychological pressures.

Attitude Formation

The process by which attitudes develop and are established through experience, learning, and social influence.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency for a belief to persist even when evidence suggests it is inaccurate, often reinforced by confirmation bias.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort experienced when actions or attitudes conflict with each other, motivating people to reduce the discomfort by changing either their actions or attitudes.

Cognitive Load

The amount of mental effort or processing capacity required to complete a task or make a decision.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out, interpret, and remember information in ways that confirm existing beliefs or attitudes.

Discrimination

Unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, which can negatively impact intelligence scores and limit opportunities.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view one's own culture or ethnic group as superior and to judge other cultures by the standards of one's own culture.

Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes that individuals hold but may be unaware of or may not consciously acknowledge, often reflecting negative evaluations of others.

In-Group Bias

The tendency to favor and show preference for members of one's own group over members of other groups.

Just-World Phenomenon

A cognitive bias in which people believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve, often leading to negative judgments of those who suffer misfortune.

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

The tendency to perceive members of an out-group as more similar to each other than members of one's own in-group actually are.

Prejudice

A negative attitude or evaluation toward a group or its members, often based on stereotypes and implicit attitudes.

Stereotype

A generalized concept or belief about a group of people that can influence decision-making and judgments, and often serves as a basis for prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behaviors.

Altruism

Selfless concern for others; helping behavior motivated by genuine concern for another person's welfare rather than personal gain.

Attentional Variables

Factors related to a person's focus and awareness that affect whether they notice a situation requiring help and respond to it.

Burnout

A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress in the workplace, characterized by reduced effectiveness and motivation.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when other people are present than when they are alone.

Central Route To Persuasion

A persuasion pathway involving careful, thoughtful analysis of persuasive arguments and evidence.

Collectivism

A cultural orientation that emphasizes group harmony, interdependence, and collective welfare over individual goals and personal identity.

Conformity

The tendency to adhere to unspoken rules, norms, or expectations of a group, often influenced by social pressure.

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and individual identity that occurs when a person is part of a group, often leading to increased conformity and sometimes antisocial behavior.

Diffusion Of Responsibility

The tendency for individuals in a group to feel less personal responsibility for their actions because the responsibility is distributed among group members.

Door-In-The-Face Technique

A persuasion method in which a large initial request is followed by a smaller request to increase compliance with the smaller request.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

A theory of persuasion that describes two main routes through which people process persuasive messages: central route (thoughtful analysis) and peripheral route (superficial cues).

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the degree to which others agree with one's own beliefs, values, and behaviors.

Foot-In-The-Door Technique

A persuasion method in which a small initial request is followed by a larger request to increase compliance with the larger request.

Group Polarization

The phenomenon that occurs when the general opinion of a group is more extreme than opinions previously held by the individuals in it.

Groupthink

A psychological phenomenon where the desire for harmony and consensus in a group leads to dysfunctional decision-making and suppression of critical evaluation.

Halo Effect

A cognitive bias where the perception of one positive characteristic influences overall judgment of a person.

Individualism

A cultural orientation that emphasizes personal goals, independence, and individual identity over group harmony and collective welfare.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

The branch of psychology that studies how people perform in workplace settings and applies psychological principles to improve management, workplace relationships, and employee well-being.

Informational Social Influence

Social pressure to behave or think in ways based on the assumption that others possess accurate information about the situation.

Multiculturalism

The coexistence and interaction of multiple cultural groups within a society, influencing how individuals perceive and behave towards themselves and others.

Normative Social Influence

Social pressure to behave or think in ways that conform to group expectations in order to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Obedience

The tendency to comply with the directives or commands of an authority figure.

Peripheral Route To Persuasion

A persuasion pathway involving superficial cues such as attractiveness or credibility rather than careful analysis of arguments.

Persuasion

Techniques used to convince oneself or others to adopt particular ideas, actions, or beliefs.

Prosocial Behavior

Voluntary actions intended to benefit others, such as helping, sharing, or comforting.

Situational Variables

Environmental and contextual factors that influence whether a person will engage in helping behavior.

Social Debt

A perceived obligation to reciprocate help or favors that have been received from others.

Social Facilitation

The phenomenon where the presence of others enhances performance on well-learned or simple tasks but impairs performance on difficult or novel tasks.

Social Influence Theory

A theoretical framework proposing that social pressure can cause people to behave or think in certain ways through normative or informational means.

Social Loafing

The tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working as part of a group compared to when working alone.

Social Norms

Unwritten rules and expectations that define how members of a society should behave in individual and social situations.

Social Reciprocity Norm

A social expectation that people should help and return favors to those who have helped them.

Social Responsibility Norm

A social expectation that people should help others who are in need, regardless of whether they have helped us in the past.

Social Situation

The environmental and contextual factors involving other people that influence an individual's behavior and mental processes.

Social Traps

Situations where individuals acting in their own self-interest create outcomes that are detrimental to the group as a whole.

Superordinate Goals

Goals that require cooperation between groups and can only be achieved through joint effort, serving to reduce intergroup conflict and negative stereotyping.

Denial

An ego defense mechanism in which a person refuses to acknowledge a threatening reality or unpleasant truth.

Displacement

An ego defense mechanism in which emotions or impulses are redirected from their original target to a safer or more acceptable target.

Ego Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious psychological strategies that protect the ego from anxiety and threatening thoughts, including denial, displacement, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, regression, repression, and sublimation.

Humanistic Theory

A psychological approach to personality that emphasizes personal growth, self-fulfillment, and the individual's subjective experience as central to understanding personality.

Preconscious

Mental content that is not currently in conscious awareness but can be brought into consciousness with effort.

Projection

An ego defense mechanism in which a person attributes their own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to another person.

Projective Tests

Personality assessment tools designed to reveal unconscious and preconscious thoughts by having individuals respond to ambiguous stimuli.

Psychodynamic Theory Of Personality

A theory that explains personality as being driven by unconscious processes and internal conflicts.

Rationalization

An ego defense mechanism in which a person creates logical but false explanations for their behavior to protect self-image.

Reaction Formation

An ego defense mechanism where a person expresses the opposite of their true unconscious feelings or impulses.

Regression

An ego defense mechanism in which a person reverts to earlier, more childlike behaviors or emotional responses when facing stress or anxiety.

Repression

An ego defense mechanism in which threatening or painful memories and impulses are pushed into the unconscious mind.

Self-Actualizing Tendency

The innate human motivation to develop one's full potential and become the best version of oneself, viewed as a primary driving force in personality according to humanistic theory.

Sublimation

An ego defense mechanism in which unacceptable impulses or emotions are channeled into socially acceptable activities or behaviors.

Unconditional Regard

Acceptance and support given to a person without conditions or judgment, considered a key factor in personality development within humanistic psychology.

Unconscious Processes

Mental activities and motivations that occur outside of conscious awareness and influence personality and behavior.

Agreeableness

A Big Five personality trait characterized by tendencies toward cooperation, compassion, and concern for others.

Big Five Theory

A trait theory of personality proposing that five major traits—agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability—comprise personality.

Conscientiousness

A Big Five personality trait characterized by organization, discipline, and tendency toward goal-directed behavior.

Emotional Stability

A Big Five personality trait characterized by the ability to manage stress and negative emotions, as opposed to neuroticism.

Extraversion

A Big Five personality trait characterized by sociability, assertiveness, and tendency to seek stimulation and social interaction.

Factor Analysis

A statistical technique used to organize and identify patterns in personality inventory responses to determine underlying trait dimensions.

Openness To Experience

A Big Five personality trait characterized by curiosity, creativity, and receptiveness to new ideas and experiences.

Personality Inventories

Specialized assessment tools used to measure personality traits by collecting and analyzing responses to standardized items.

Reciprocal Determinism

The concept that personality is shaped by the mutual influence of a person's thoughts and beliefs, their environment, and their behavior.

Self-Concept

An individual's perception and understanding of themselves, including how they view themselves in relation to others.

Self-Efficacy

A person's belief in their ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish particular tasks.

Self-Esteem

A person's overall evaluation of their own worth and value as an individual.

Social-Cognitive Theory

A theory of personality that emphasizes how personality is shaped by the interaction between a person's thoughts, environment, and behavior.

Trait Theories Of Personality

Psychological theories that explain personality as a set of enduring characteristics that lead to typical responses to stimuli.