Personality and Social Psychology Lecture Notes

personality psychology

The scientific study of personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disordered forms (personality disorders).

social psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

person perception

How we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior.

attribution theory

A theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution).

fundamental attribution error

The tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

actor-observer bias

The tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal causes. This contributes to the fundamental attribution error.

prejudice

An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

stereotype

A generalized (but sometimes accurate) belief about a group of people.

discrimination

Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members.

just-world phenomenon

The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

social identity

The “we” aspect of our self concept, the part of our answer to “who am I” that comes from our group memberships.

ingroup

People whom we share a common identity.

outgroup

Those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.

ingroup bias

The tendency to favor our own group.

scapegoat theory

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

other-race effect

The tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.

attitudes

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to 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 only comply later with a larger request.

role

A set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Leon Festinger

Creator of the cognitive dissonance theory.

cognitive dissonance theory

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent.

persuasion

Changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions.

peripheral route persuasion

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues (eg: a speaker’s attractiveness).

central route persuasion

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

norms

A society’s understood rules for accepted/expected/“proper” behavior in individual or social situations.

Solomon Asch

Creator of the idea of conformity.

conformity

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

normative social influence

Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

informational social influence

Influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality.

obedience

Complying with an order or a command.

Stanley Milgram

Social psychologist who did the volt experiment.

social facilitation

In the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks.

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.

deindividuation

The loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

group polarization

The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

groupthink

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision making group overrides the realistic appraisal of alternatives.

culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

tight culture

A place with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms.

loose culture

A place with flexible and informal norms.

aggression

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally.

frustration-aggression principle

The principle that frustration, the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal creates anger, which can generate aggression.

social script

A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

mere exposure effect

The tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them.

passionate love

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a romantic relationship.

companionate love

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

equity

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.

self-disclosure

The act of revealing intimate aspects of information to others.

altruism

The unselfish concern for the well being of others, involving actions that help of their even at a personal cost (without expecting a reward).

John Darley

Social psychologist; he studied the bystander effect in their experiment.

Bibb Latane

Social psychologist; she studied the bystander effect in their experiment.

bystander effect

A social psychology phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

social exchange theory

The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits