Social Psychology Vocabulary

Flashcards related to social psychology, covering topics such as social perception, attitudes, prejudice, conformity, obedience, altruism, aggression, and group influence.

Social Psychology

Branch of psychology that studies how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of other people and by the social and physical environment.

Social Cognition

Mental processes people use to make sense of their social environments.

Person Perception

The mental processes we use to form judgments about other people.

Social Categorization

Mental process of categorizing people into groups based on shared characteristics.

Implicit Personality Theory

Assumption that people share traits and behaviors.

Social Norms

Unwritten 'rules,' or expectations, for appropriate behavior in a particular social situation.

Implicit Personality Theory and Attractiveness

Associates physical attractiveness with a wide range of desirable characteristics.

Attribution

Process of inferring the causes of people’s behavior, including one’s own; explanation given for a particular behavior.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal characteristics, while ignoring external factors.

Blaming the Victim

Tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for having somehow caused the problem.

Hindsight Bias

Tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have foreseen the outcome of an event.

Just-World Hypothesis

Assumption that the world is fair and that people get what they deserve.

Self-Serving Bias

Tendency to credit oneself for successes (internal attributions) and blame failures on external circumstances.

Self-Effacing Bias

Involves blaming failure on internal factors and attributing success to external factors (collectivistic cultures).

Attitude

Learned tendency to evaluate objects, people, or issues in a particular way.

Cognitive Dissonance

Discomfort caused by inconsistency between attitudes and behaviors.

Prejudice

Negative attitude toward people who belong to a specific social group.

Stereotype

Cluster of characteristics associated with all members of a specific social group.

In-group Bias

Tendency to make favorable attributions to members of your in-group.

Out-group Homogeneity Effect

Tendency to see members of the out-group as more similar to one another.

Implicit Attitudes

Evaluations that are automatic, spontaneous, unintentional, and often unconscious.

Conformity

Adjusting opinions, judgment, or behavior to match that of other people or the norms of a social group.

Normative Social Influence

Behavior motivated by the desire to gain social acceptance.

Informational Social Influence

Behavior motivated by the desire to be correct.

Obedience

Behavior performed in direct response to the orders of an authority.

Altruism

Helping another person with no expectation of personal reward.

Prosocial Behavior

Any behavior that helps another, whether the underlying motive is self-serving or selfless.

Aggression

Verbal or physical behavior intended to cause harm to other people.

Social Loafing

Tendency to expend less effort on a task when it is a group effort, especially when individual efforts are difficult to observe.

Social Facilitation

Tendency for the presence of other people to enhance performance.

Deindividuation

Reduction of self-awareness and inhibitions that can occur when a person is part of a group whose members feel anonymous.