Social (4.1-4.3) Vocab

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (a situation attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution)

explanatory style

an individual’s way of describing and explaining some phenomenon, event, or personal history

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

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

self-serving bias

the readiness to perceive ourselves favorably

internal locus of control

the perception that we control our own fate

external locus of control

the perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

mere exposure effect

the tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

relative deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members

discrimination

in social psychology, unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

belief perseverance

the persistence of one’s own initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

implicit attitude

a relatively enduring and general evaluative response of which a person has little or no conscious awareness

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

outgroup homogeneity bias

the tendency to assume that the members of other groups are very similar to each other, particularly in contrast to the assumed diversity of the members of one’s own group

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

confirmation bias

the tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

cognitive dissonance

the unpleasant psychological state resulting from inconsistency between two or more elements in a cognitive system

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

informational social influence

influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

elaboration likelihood model

theory of persuasion postulating that attitude change occurs on a continuation of elaboration and thus, under certain conditions, may be a result of relatively extensive or relatively little scrutiny of attitude-relevant information

central route of persuasion

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

peripheral route of persuasion

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

halo effect

rating bias in which a general evaluation (usually positive) of a person, or an evaluation of a person on a specific dimension, influences judgments of that person or other specific dimensions

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

door-in-the-face phenomenon

two-step procedure for enhancing compliance in which an extreme initial request is presented immediately before a more moderate target request

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

obedience

complying with an order or command

social trap

situation in which two parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

social loafing

tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts to words attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

social facilitation

in the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks