Psych Vocab 4.1

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

the 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 (which focuses on our explanations for others’ behavior).

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) 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

“us” — people with whom we share a common identity.

outgroup

“them” — 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. Also called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias.

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 comply later with a larger request.

role

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

Leon Festinger

an American cognitive psychologist, best known for his theory of cognitive dissonance

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.

persuasion

changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions.

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.

central route persuasion

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