PSYC 10A Chapter 13: Social Psychology

Aggression

Behavior whose purpose is to harm another

Proactive aggression

Aggression that is planned and purposeful. Think: means to an end

Reactive aggression

Aggression that occurs spontaneously in response to a negative affective state. Not always directed toward a relevant target. (E.g. man crashing out after getting fired)

Cooperation

Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit

In-group favoritism

Tendency to treat people better when they are members of one’s own group than when they are not

Common knowledge effect

The tendency for group discussions to focus on information that all members share. A reason why group decisions are usually not good.

Group polarization

The tendency of groups to make decisions that are more extreme than any member would have made alone. Another reason why group decisions are usually worse.

Groupthink

The tendency for groups to reach consensus in order to facilitate interpersonal harmony. Groups sacrifice soundness to make everyone feel better. Another reason why group decisions are usually worse.

Deindividuation

Occurs when immersion in a group causes people to become less attentive to their personal values

Diffusion of responsibility

The tendency of individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when surrounded by others who are acting the same way. Main culprit behind social loafing

Social loafing

The tendency to contribute less when in a group than when alone

Bystander effect

The tendency for people to be less likely to help a stranger in an emergency situation when other bystanders are present.

Altruism

Intentional behavior that benefits another at a potential cost to oneself

Kin selection

The process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives

Reciprocal altruism

Behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those beneifts will be returned in the future

Passionate love

An experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction

Companionate love

An experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner’s well-being

Category-based inferences

Inferences based on information about the categories to which a person belongs

Stereotyping

The process of drawing inferences about individuals based on their category membership

Prejudice

A negative evaluation of another person based solely on their category membership

Discrimination

Negative behavior toward another person based solely on their category membership

Behavioral confirmation

The tendency of targets to behave as observers expect them to behave

Stereotype threat

The anxiety associated with the possibility of confirming other people’s stereotypes about one’s group

Perceptual confirmation

The tendency of observers to see what they expect to see

Subtyping

The tendency of observers to think of targets who disconfirm stereotypes as “exceptions to the rule.”

Target-based inferences

Inferences based on information about an individual’s behavior

Attribution

An inference about the cause of a person’s behavior

Situational attributions

We decide that a person’s behavior was caused by some temporary aspect of the situation in which it happened

Dispositional attributions

We decide that a person’s behavior was caused by a relatively enduring tendency to think, feel, or act in a particular way

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to make a dispositional attribution even when we should instead make a situational attribution

Actor-observer effect

The tendency to make situational attributions for our own behaviors while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others

Hedonic motive

Pleasure-seeking and pain-avoiding motive

Overjustification effect

Occurs when a reward decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a behavior

Reactance

An unpleasant feeling that arises when people feel they are being coerced

Normative influence

A phenomenon in which another person’s behavior provides information about what is appropriate

Conformity

The tendency to do what others do

Obedience

The tendency to do what authorities tell us to do

Attitude

An enduring positive or negative evaluation of a stimulus

Belief

An enduring piece of knowledge about a stimulus

Informational influence

Another person’s behavior provides information about what is good or true

Persuasion

A phenomenon that occurs when a person’s attitudes or belies are influenced by a communication from another person

Central-route persuasion

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to reason

Peripheral-route persuasion

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion

Cognitive dissonance

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