Final Exam Concepts

Social Psychology

An individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are influenced by social situations.

Intrapersonal topics

Emotions and attitudes, the self, and social cognition.

Interpersonal topics

Helping behavior, aggression, prejudice and discrimination, attraction and close relationships, and group processes.

Situationism

The view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings.

Dispositionism

The view that our behavior is determined by internal factors, such as personality traits and temperament.

Attributions

Evaluation of our feelings toward a person, idea, or object that gives us the explanation about other people's behavior.

Locus of control

Refers to the extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them, categorized as internal vs external.

Stability

Refers to whether factors are stable or unstable.

Controllability

Refers to whether factors are controllable or uncontrollable.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize internal factors as explanations for the behavior of other people.

Just-world hypothesis

The belief that people get the outcomes they deserve.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute other people's behaviors to internal factors and attribute our own behaviors to situational forces.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to take credit by making dispositional (internal) attributions for positive outcomes but situational (external) attributions for negative outcomes.

Social Role

a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group

Social Norm

a group's expectation of what is appropriate and acceptable behavior for its members

Script

the sequence of events expected in a specific setting

Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment

demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts

Attitude

our evaluation of a person, an idea, or object

Cognitive Dissonance

psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, and cognition

Persuasion

process of changing our attitudes toward something based on some kind of communication

Foot-In-The-Door Technique

persuader gets a person to agree to a large request by having them agree to a modest request first

Conformity

the change in a person's behavior to go along with the group, even if they do not agree with the group

Asch effect

the influence of the group majority on an individual's judgement

Obedience

the change of an individual's behavior to comply with a demand by an authority figure

Affective component

feelings related to an attitude

Behavioral component

the effect of the attitude on behavior

Cognitive component

beliefs and knowledge related to an attitude

Factors influencing conformity

the size of the majority, the presence of another dissenter, and the public or private nature of the responses

Milgram's study

highlighted the power of authority in influencing human behavior and raised important ethical concerns about psychological experiments

Example of Foot-In-The-Door Technique

participants who agreed to post a small sign in their yard or sign a petition were more likely to agree to put a large sign in their yard than people who declined the first request

Conflict in Cognitive Dissonance

conflict between belief vs behavior

Ways to reduce cognitive dissonance

change their behavior, change their belief through rationalization or denial, add a new cognition

Setup of Milgram's study

participants were told they were part of a study on memory and learning

Teacher

A participant assigned the role of administering electric shocks to a learner during the experiment.

Authority figure

An experimenter in a white lab coat who instructed the teacher to continue administering shocks.

Results

About 65% of participants administered the highest level of shock, 450 volts, due to instructions from the authority figure.

Findings

The experiment demonstrated that people often carry out harmful actions when directed by an authority figure, despite their own ethical beliefs.

Learner

An actor who pretended to receive electric shocks during the memory test.

Electric shocks

Severe electrical stimuli administered to the learner as a punishment for mistakes in the memory test.

Memory test

A task given to the learner where mistakes would result in electric shocks.

450 volts

The highest level of shock administered by participants in the experiment.

Ethical beliefs

Personal moral principles that may be compromised when following authority instructions.

Groupthink

the modification of the opinions of members of a group to align with what they believe is the group consensus

Group Polarization

the strengthening of an original group attitude after the discussion of views within a group

Proximity

the people with whom you have the most contact

Similarity

people who are similar to us in background, attitudes, and lifestyle

Homophily

the tendency for people to form social networks with others who are similar

Matching Hypothesis

people tend to form relationships with those they view as their equal in physical attractiveness and social desirability

Reciprocacy

the give and take in relationships

Self-Disclosure

the sharing of personal information

Intimacy

sharing of details and intimate thoughts and emotions

Passion

physical attraction

Commitment

standing by the person

Liking

(intimacy)

Companionate love

(intimacy + commitment)

Empty love

(commitment)

Fatuous love

(passion + commitment)

Infatuation

(passion)

Romantic love

(passion + intimacy)

Consummate love

(intimacy + passion + commitment)

Social Exchange Theory

People keep track of the costs and benefits of forming and maintaining a relationship

Prosocial behavior

voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people

Altruism

people's desire to help others even if the costs outweigh the benefits of helping

Industrial Psychology

Match job characteristics and applicant characteristics

Organizational Psychology

Interactions of workers and effects of interactions on productivity

Ergonomic

Relating to or designed for efficiency and comfort in the working environment

Army Alpha Test

Measure mental/intellectual abilities of soldiers or individuals who potentially join the military

Army Beta Test

the non-verbal complement version of the Army Alpha Test

Hawthorne Effect

The increase in performance of individuals who are noticed, watched, and paid attention to by researchers or supervisors

Job Analysis

Accurately describing the task/job

Task-Oriented Analysis

Lists in detail the tasks that will be performed for the job

Worker-Oriented Analysis

Describes characteristics required of the worker to successfully perform the job

Equal Pay Act

(1963)

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

(1964)

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

(1978)

Americans with Disabilities Act

(1990)

Scientific Management

A theory of management that analyzes workflows with goal of improving economic efficiency

Theory X

Manager assumes workers dislike work and not innately self directed

Theory Y

Manager assumes that most workers seek to inner satisfaction and fulfillment from their work

Transactional Leadership

Focus on supervision

Transformational Leadership

Charismatic role models

Stimulus Based Definition of Stress

A demanding or threatening event or situation

Response Based Definition of Stress

Emphasizes physiological responses that occur in response to demanding or threatening situations

Eustress

Stress that can be positive and motivate us to do things in our best interests

Distress

"Bad Stress" that causes people to feel burned out and worse performance

Cognitive Appraisals

Judgement about the degree of potential harm/threat to well-being that a stressor might entail

Fight or Flight Response

Set of physiological reactions that occur when an individual encounters a perceived threat

General Adaptation Syndrome

the body's nonspecific physiological response to stress

Holmes and Rahe's Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

A scale that hypothesizes that life events requiring significant change are stressful, with each life event assigned a score/life change unit (LCU) from 11 to 100.

Life Change Unit (LCU)

A score representing the perceived magnitude of life change involved in a life event, ranging from 11 to 100.

Death of a spouse

A life event assigned an LCU score of 100 on the SRRS.

Divorce

A life event assigned an LCU score of 73 on the SRRS.

Cortisol

A stress hormone that provides a boost of energy when encountering a stressor, peaking in the morning and helping with digestion and reproduction.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Triggers arousal in response to a stressor via the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands.

Hypothalamic - Pituitary - Adrenal (HPA) axis

A system that involves the hypothalamus detecting stress and releasing CRH, which stimulates the pituitary gland to release ACTH, leading to cortisol release from the adrenal glands.

Type A Personality

Characterized by competitiveness, high ambition, impatience, a sense of urgency, and often hostility or aggression, leading to higher stress levels.

Type B Personality

Defined by a more relaxed, patient, and easy-going behavior pattern, generally less stressed and more adaptable.

Friedman and Rosenman (1974)

Researchers who found that individuals prone to heart disease tend to be 'intensely driven workaholics' categorized as Type A Personality.

Chronic stress

Sustained physiological reactions that can lead to wear and tear on the body.

Hypertension

High blood pressure that increases the risk for heart disease.