Untitled Flashcards Set

Social Psychology

The study of how an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of others.

Social Influence

Interactions allowing others to influence the behavior, feelings, and thoughts of an individual.

Conformity

Changing one's behavior to match the actions of others.

Normative Social Influence

The need to act in ways that will make us liked or accepted by others.

Informational Social Influence

Taking cues on how to behave from others when in an unclear situation.

Groupthink

A phenomenon where group values cohesiveness over realistic consideration of facts.

Group Polarization

The tendency for group discussions to lead members to adopt more extreme positions.

Social Facilitation

The positive impact that the presence of others can have on performance.

Social Impairment

The negative impact that the presence of others can have on performance.

Social Loafing

The tendency for individuals to put less effort into a group task than when working alone.

Deindividuation

The lessening of personal identity or responsibility when in a group.

Compliance

Changing behavior as a result of a request from another person or group.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

A compliance strategy where a small request is followed by a larger request.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

A compliance strategy where a large request is made first and then a smaller request follows.

Lowball Technique

A strategy involving getting a commitment from a person and then raising the cost of that commitment.

Obedience

Changing behavior in response to a direct order from authority.

Milgram Study

Research that explored obedience to authority by investigating how long participants would continue to administer shocks.

Social Cognition

How people think about others and how those thoughts influence behavior towards others.

Attitude

A tendency to respond positively or negatively toward certain ideas, persons, objects, or situations.

Cognitive Dissonance

The discomfort experienced when one's behavior does not align with their beliefs.

Fundamental Attribution Error

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

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute successes to oneself and failures to external factors.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture is superior to others.

Realistic Conflict Theory

A theory stating that prejudice and discrimination increase during conflicts over limited resources.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for the likelihood of helping to decrease as the number of bystanders increases.

Diffusion of Responsibility

A phenomenon where individuals do not take responsibility when others are present.

Projective Tests

Personality tests that use ambiguous stimuli to reveal personality.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test involving interpretation of inkblots to assess personality and diagnose disorders.

Cattell's 16PF

A personality inventory self-report test measuring 16 distinct primary traits.