AP Psychology Unit 4A: Social Psychology

Attributions

How people explain behavior and mental processes of themselves and others.

Dispositional attributions

Explaining someone's behavior in terms of factors internal to the person, such as traits or preferences.

Situational attributions

Explaining someone's behavior in terms of factors external to the person, such as their environment.

Explanatory style

A person's habitual way of explaining events, typically assessed along three dimensions: internal/external, stable/unstable, and global/specific.

Optimistic explanatory style

Accounting for negative events or situations with external, unstable, and specific explanations.

Pessimistic explanatory style

Accounting for negative events or situations with internal, stable, and global explanations.

Actor/observer bias

The tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities.

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.

Self-serving bias

The tendency to perceive oneself in an overly favorable manner.

Internal locus of control

Belief that you have personal control over your own behavior; agency over your life and actions.

External locus of control

Belief that events outside of your control drive your actions and outcomes.

Mere exposure effect

Repeated exposure to a stimulus over time causes an individual to like the stimulus more.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

An expectation or belief that can influence your behaviors, thus causing the belief to come true.

Social comparison

Evaluating one's abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others.

Upward social comparison

When we compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than us.

Downward social comparison

When we compare ourselves with those who we believe are worse off than us.

Relative deprivation

The perception by an individual that the amount of a desired resource they have is less than some comparison standard.

Stereotype

Generalized concept about a group; an oversimplified belief.

Cognitive load

The amount of a person's cognitive resources needed to carry out a particular cognitive task.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward another person or group formed in advance of any experience with that person or group.

Discrimination

The unjust and differential treatment of the members of different groups.

Implicit attitudes

Attitudes that individuals hold but may not be aware of or may not acknowledge.

Just-world phenomenon

The idea that the world is a fair and orderly place where what happens to people generally is what they deserve.

Out-group homogeneity bias

The tendency to assume that the members of other groups are very similar to each other.

In-group bias

The tendency to favor one's own group and its members.

Ethnocentrism

The practice of regarding one's own ethnic, racial, or social group as the center of all things.

Belief perseverance

Tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them.

Confirmation bias

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions.

Cognitive dissonance

An unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs.

Social norms

How we define expectations and roles for members of a society.

Social influence theory

A theory that describes how people change their behavior according to those around them.

Normative social influence

Individuals strive to act in ways that are consistent with their group's norms.

Informational social influence

Individuals assume that the judgments or opinions of the group are correct.

Persuasion

The process of creating, reinforcing, or changing people's beliefs or actions.

Elaboration likelihood model

A theory of how persuasive messages lead to attitude changes.

Central route persuasion

Occurs when people focus on arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

Peripheral route persuasion

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

Halo effect

The tendency for positive impressions of a person in one area to positively influence opinion in other areas.

Foot-in-the-door technique

Once a person agrees to a small request, they are more likely to agree to a larger request later.

Door-in-the-face technique

The persuader makes a large request, then a smaller request after it's turned down.

Conformity

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

Obedience

A form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands from authority.

Individualism

Giving priority to one's own goals over group goals.

Collectivism

Giving priority to the goals of one's group and defining one's identity accordingly.

Multiculturalism

The belief that distinct identities and cultural groups should be acknowledged and supported.

Group polarization

Occurs when like-minded people reinforce each other's opinions, making them more extreme.

Groupthink

A phenomenon where a group makes irrational decisions spurred by conformity.

Diffusion of responsibility

When in a group, individuals feel less personal responsibility to act.

Social loafing

People are less productive when working as a team.

Deindividuation

The perceived loss of individuality in a group.

Social facilitation

The theory that people perform better in the presence of others on well-learned tasks.

False consensus effect

The tendency to overestimate how much others agree with us.

Superordinate goals

Goals that can be attained only if members of different groups work together.

Social traps

Situations in which actions have immediate rewards but negative long-term consequences.

Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

The scientific study of human behavior in organizations and the workplace.

Burnout

A psychological response to work stress characterized by emotional exhaustion.

Altruism

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

Prosocial behavior

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior.

Social debt

Feeling of guilt when social rules aren't followed motivates action to feel better.

Social reciprocity norm

A social rule that maintains people should return favors.

Social responsibility norm

Expectation that people should engage in positive behavior for community welfare.

Bystander effect

A phenomenon where individuals are less likely to take action in a large group.

Situational variables

Environmental factors that impact whether a person will help another.

Attentional variables

Factors related to consciousness that impact whether a person will help another.