Social Psychology, Unit 1

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. (We may act differently in other situations)

attribution theory

how we explain someone's behavior—by crediting either the situation (situational attribution) or the person's disposition (dispositional attribution)

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

attitude

feelings often based on our beliefs, that make us respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. When our thoughts/actions don’t align, we feel tension, and change one to relieve the tension

conformity

adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

informational social influence

influence from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality.

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

social facilitation

Better at simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.

group polarization

Discussion within a group enhances prevailing ideas

groupthink

desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

prejudice

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members

3 parts: stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Explicit (overt, obvious) or implicit (unthinking, unintentional)

stereotype

a generalized belief about a group of people.

ingroup

"us"—people with whom one shares a common identity.

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor one's own group.

outgroup

"them"—those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup.

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences & require their cooperation.

Muzafer Sherif

a founder of social psychology, studied social norms, conducted Robber's Cave experiment

Central Route To Persuasion

Occurs when people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments

Peripheral Route To Persuasion

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness.

Role

A set of explanations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Diffusion of Responsibility

a social phenomenon which tends to occur in groups of people above a cbertain critical size when responsibility is not explicitly assigned.

Mirror-image Perceptions

Mutual views between conflicting parties, when each side sees itself as ethical/peaceful and the other as evil

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

prediction that directly or indirectly confirms itself by influencing the other party

Norm

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. They prescribe "proper" behavior.

Discrimination

(Social) unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

Reciprocity Norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Social-Responsibility Norm

an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.

Social Trap

When two selfish parties become caught in a mutually destructive behavior

Superordinate Goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

Leon Festinger

American social psychologist known for his work in the proximity effect, cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory.

Stanley Milgram

Shock experiments

American social psychologist, controversial experiment on obedience, interested in the obedience of Nazi soldiers during WWII and if their behaviors could be repeated with American citizens.

Philip Zimbardo

American social scientist most famous for his study, the Stanford Prison Experiment, which studied the psychological effects of being a prisoner or prison guard, which included role playing, obedience, conformity, groupthink, etc.

GRIT

passion and perseverance toward a long-term goal

Graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reduction - strategy to decrease international tension

Robert Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

The 3 components of love are passion, commitment, and intimacy

Dispositional attribute

the explanation of one's behavior is due to internal characteristics

Situational attribute

the explanation of one's behavior is due to external factors

Compliance

changing one's behavior due to the request or direction of another person

Door-in-the-face phenomenon

persuading someone to comply by making a large request that the person will likely turn down, so that the person will agree to a much smaller request

Lowball technique

style of persuasion that offers products/services at a reduced price, but then additional expenses are added to raise the price

Self-serving bias

tendency to attribute positive outcomes to personal factors and negative outcomes to situational factors

Ethnocentrism

belief that your society, culture or group is superior to all others

Principle of proximity

tendency for people to form relationships with people who are physically closer to them

Similarity principle

tendency to be attracted to others that are similar to themselves

Reward theory on attraction

we like those who we associate with rewarding events

Halo effect

occurs when a general impression of someone influences perception of their character

Self-disclosure

sharing private and intimate secrets about yourself with someone

contact hypothesis

which predicts that social contact between members of different groups is extremely important to overcoming prejudice.

implicit associations test (IAT)

measures of fast people can respond to images or words flashed on a computer screen in relation to good/bad biases

Person perception

The processes by which individuals categorize and form judgements about other people

Naive realism

the tendency to assume that the way we see things is the way they are.

chameleon effect/ social contagion

people mimic others non consciously, automatically copying others behaviors even without realizing it. chartrand and bargh.

Obedience

Complying with an order or command

Deindividuation

Loss of self awareness/restraint in situations with excitement and anonymity

Culture

Enduring behaviors, values, etc shared by a group through generations

Tight culture: clearly defined/reliable norms

Loose culture: place with flexible/informal norms

Aggression

Physical/verbal behavior intended to harm someone emotionally or physically

Frustration/aggression principle

Frustration creates anger, anger creates aggression

Social script

Culturally modeled guide for how to act in situations

Prosocial behavior

Behavior that intends to help or benefit someone

construal level theory

which describes how information affects us differently depending on our psychological distance from the information.

Personality psychology

Scientific study of personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disorders

Person perception

How we form impressions of ourselves and others

Actor-observer bias

Person acting in situation blames their behavior on the situation/external, while observers blame actor’s disposition/personality

Social comparison

Compare ourselves to others to know if we are succeeding or failing

Scapegoat theory

Theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

Other-race effect

Tendency to recall faces of one’s own race better than other races

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts for snap judgements

Proximity

Geographic nearness

mere exposure effect

The tendency for repeated exposure to increase our liking (novelty/new)

Passionate love

Excited state of intense positive absorption in another (Often at the beginning of a romantic relationship)

Reward theory of Attraction

We like those whose behavior is good for us

Companionate love

Deep attachment, we feel for those that our lives are intertwined with

Altruism

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Conflict

Perceived in compatibility of actions/goals/ideas

Just-world phenomenon

Belief that the world is fundamentally fair

Leads to rationalizing injustice/misfortune is deserved

Out-group homogeneity bias

Tendency to see other group as all very similar

Relative deprivation

Feeling of dissatisfaction when individuals compare themselves to others

Belief perseverance

Tendency to hold on to initial beliefs even after they are shown as false

Hypotheses

If-then statement about research and variables

Independent variable

Variable manipulated by researcher

Dependent variable

Variable measured by the researchers

Confounding variables

Unintended variables that may impact results (race, age, gender, etc)

Operational definition

Specific definitions of each variable in the context of the experiment

5 Ethical guidelines

1. Obtain consent

2. Protect from harm/discomfort

3. Participants info confidential

4. Fully debrief subjects afterward