Social Psych Applications

Fundamental attribution error

Kayla thinks her friend's younger brother is really whiny and behaves like a brat. She overlooks that he's only 3-years-old and is behaving like most toddlers that have missed a nap.

Self-serving bias

When Andy makes mistakes at work he always seems to have an excuse or reason that removes the blame from his shoulders.

False consensus bias

Elizabeth and her friends all love Taylor Swift so she naturally thinks everyone likes her too.

Actor-observer bias

When Angelo scores lower on test than his classmates, he blames the teacher or says he couldn't study much because of work. When he scores higher than his classmates he assumes it's because he is smarter than his peers.

Halo effect

Allan is always so friendly and polite, so his manager thinks it must be one of the other workers that is stealing money from the cash register.

Central route persuasion

In her campaign speech for class president, Mary lists and describes the 10 goals she wants to meet for the school year that will benefit the senior class.

Peripheral route persuasion

Bob is running for senior class president. While he has some good ideas, he is counting on his popularity and good-looks to win him the election.

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Ellie asks her mom if she can go to the mall with some friends. Her mom says "yes". Ellie then asks her mom for a ride to the mall. Her mom agrees to take them to the mall. When they arrive, Ellie asks to use her mom's credit card fro shopping.

Door-in-the-face phenomenon

Brandon's parents have always promised him a senior trip. When the time comes he asks to take a trip to London. His parents turn down the request but agree when he then asks to fly to New York for a week.

Cognitive dissonance theory

Carla always feels bad when she yells at her sister, even though her sister often deserves it. She makes a point to be more patient with her sister to avoid these instances of yelling.

Normative social influence

Darla spends more money than she'd like on clothes that are trendy and stylish because many of her friends do the same and she wants to fit in with the group.

Informational social influence

Emily shows up to her first day of band practice. She sees all the other students standing in a line along the wall and joins the line.

Social facilitation

Felicia plays for her high school basketball team. She practices shooting free-throws before and after every practice. She relishes opportunities to shoot free throws in game situations, because she knows she will deliver in front of the crowd.

Social loafing

Ms. Blanchard is hesitant to allow students to work in groups of 5 for their upcoming science project, because she knows some students in the group will not put forth as much effort.

Deindividuation

While Evan is usually very mild-tempered, he finds himself yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs as he cheers on his high school basketball team from the student section.

Group polarization

Bill attends a neighborhood watch meeting. While he doesn't have any significant concerns about safety issues, he listens to the concerns of many of his neighbors and begins to feel that safety needs to be a greater priority in his community.

Groupthink

Jill's boss has an idea about a new method to increase worker productivity. Jill quickly identifies a clear flaw in the plan but is hesitant to voice her disapproval because her coworkers seem to have accepted the new plan quickly and have not voiced any disapproval.

Prejudice

It is not uncommon for upper-classmen to have a negative attitude toward freshmen.

Stereotype

The general belief that high school freshmen are immature, irresponsible, and annoying is a view that is held by many who are not freshmen.

Discrimination

Many clubs and school organizations do not allow freshmen to serve in leadership positions solely because of their age.

Outgroup homogeneity bias

One of Sara's friends plays for the school lacrosse team. He is very confident and pretty arrogant about his and the team's abilities. She assumes the other lacrosse players act the same way.

Mere-exposure effect

Franny wasn't very fond of some of the students assigned seats near her in her biology class. However, as the semester continued she began to warm up to these students as she got to know them better.

Scapegoat theory

Because her teammates already don't like her very much, Brenna finds that she often gets blamed when the team loses games.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Heather thinks her teacher views her as being lazy and that the teacher doesn't really like her, so Heather doesn't really put forward a lot of effort in that class.

Altruism

Marissa often goes out of her way to help others regardless of the cost or consequences she may face by helping others.

Bystander effect

A woman slips on some ice and hits her head on the pavement. She loses consciousness while a number of individuals pass by without help. People continue to pass without helping or assisting and the woman passes away as a result of her head injury.

Ethnocentrism

Karen is hesitant to try various international cuisines. She views certain foods as gross and weird even though she's never tried them. Her judgement of other cultures would be labelled as...

Social exchange theory

Alice's friend is visibly emotional during lunch. Alice goes to the restroom with her friend to help her calm down. The bell rings and Alice knows that if she stays with her friend she will then be late to her next class. Alice's considerations in making this decision will be impacted by...

Reciprocity norm

Coach Hester helps Coach King move furniture. A couple years later when Coach Hester needs help moving, he is confident Coach King will help him because of...

Social responsibility norm

The fact that young children, elderly people, and individuals with physical disabilities are more likely to receive assistance, help, or aid serves as an example of...