Chapter 17: Social Thinking and Behavior

Social Exchange Theory

Proposes that the course of a relationship is governed by rewards and costs that the partners experience.

Deindividuation

A loss of individuality that leads to disinhibited behavior.

Primacy Effect

Refers to our tendency to attach more importance to the initial information that we learn about a person.

Prejudice

Refers to a negative attitude toward people based on their membership in a group.

Discrimination

Refers to overt behavior that involves treating people unfairly based on the group to which they belong.

Realistic Conflict Theory

Competition for limited resources fosters prejudice.

Norm of Reciprocity

Involves the expectation that when others treat us well, we should respond in kind.

Fundamental Attribution Error

We underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the role of personal factors when explaining other peoples behavior.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to make personal attributions for successes and situational attributions for failures.

Groupthink

The tendency of group members to suspend critical thinking because they are striving to seek agreement.

Sterotype

Which is a generalized belief about a group or category of people.

Attributions

Judgments about the causes of our own and other peoples behavior and outcomes.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Occurs when peoples erroneous expectations lead them to act toward others in a way that brings about the expected behaviors, thereby confirming their original impression.

Central Route to persuasion

Occurs when people think carefully about the message and are influenced because they find the arguments compelling.

Communicator Credibitity

How believable we perceive the communicator to be.

Normative Social Influence

Conforming to obtain the rewards that come from being accepted by other people while at the same time avoiding their rejection.

Kin Selection

Organisms are most likely to help others with whom they share the most genes, namely, their offspring and genetic relatives.

Passionate Love

Involves intense emotion, arousal, and yearning for the partner.

Bystander Effect

The presence of multiple bystanders inhibits each persons tendency to help, largely due to social comparison (at step 2) or diffusion of responsibility (at step 3)

Self perception Theory

We make inferences about our own attitudes in much the same way: by observing how we behave.

Social Compensation

Working harder in a group than when alone to compensate for other members lower output.

Attitude

Is a positive or negative evaluative reaction toward a stimulus, such as a person, action, object, or concept.

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

Occurs when people do not scrutinize the message but are infl uenced mostly by other factors such as a speakers attractiveness or a messages emotional appeal.

Theory of Cognative Dissonance

People strive for consistency in their cognitions.

Explicit Prejudice

Which people express publicly.

Mere Exposure Effect

Repeated exposure to a stimulus typically increases our liking for it.

Triangular Theory of Love

Proposes that love involves three major components: passion, intimacy, and commitment.