Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from a lecture on Social Psychology and Personality.

Attribution Theory

How we explain the behavior of others and ourselves.

Dispositional Attributions

Blaming someone's behavior on their personality, mood, or intelligence.

Situational Attributions

Considering the circumstances when explaining behavior.

Explanatory Style

The lens through which you interpret life's events; can be optimistic or pessimistic.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Seeing setbacks as temporary, specific, and external.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Seeing setbacks as permanent, global, and internal.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Overestimating someone's personality and underestimating the situation.

Actor-Observer Bias

Blaming external factors for our actions but blaming the person when we observe others.

Self-Serving Bias

Taking credit for our successes but blaming external factors for our failures.

Internal Locus of Control

Believing that you are in charge of your own destiny.

External Locus of Control

Believing that outside forces are controlling events in your life.

Person Perception

How we form impressions of other people and decide what they're like.

Mere Exposure Effect

The more we are exposed to something, the more likely we are to view it positively.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Your expectations about someone actually influence their behavior, making your original belief come true.

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing yourself to someone who's doing better than you.

Downward Social Comparison

Comparing yourself to someone who's worse off than you.

Relative Deprivation

Feeling like you're missing out because you're comparing yourself to others who seem better off.

Stereotype

A generalized belief about a group of people.

Prejudice

Having a negative attitude towards someone based on their group membership.

Discrimination

Turning prejudice into unfair behavior or actions.

Implicit Bias

Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect how we think and behave without us even realizing it.

Just World Phenomenon

The belief that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people, which leads to victim blaming.

Outgroup Homogeneity Bias

Seeing members of an outgroup as being all the same.

Ingroup Bias

Favoring the people in our group and believing they're better than others.

Ethnocentrism

Judging another culture based on the values and norms of one's own; leads to the belief that one's own culture is superior.

Belief Perseverance

Refusing to let go of a belief even after being presented with evidence that proves it wrong.

Confirmation Bias

Actively seeking out information that supports what you already believe while ignoring anything that contradicts it.

Cognitive Dissonance

The uncomfortable tension that arises when our attitudes and actions don't line up.

Social Norms

Unwritten rules about how we're supposed to act in society.

Normative Social Influence

Conforming to fit in or avoid standing out.

Informational Social Influence

Looking to others for guidance because we think they know better.

Central Route to Persuasion

Focuses on logic, evidence, and critical thinking to persuade. The arguments quality matters.

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

Focuses on superficial cues to persuade, like who's delivering the message or how attractive they seem.

Halo Effect

Where one positive quality about a person makes us assume everything else about them is great too.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Getting someone to agree to a small request first, then following up with a bigger one.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Starting with a big request that you know will get rejected, then following it up with a smaller, more reasonable request.

Conformity

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to align with that of the group.

Obedience

Following orders from an authority figure.

Individualism

Focus is on personal goals and independence.

Collectivism

Values group harmony and cooperation.

Multiculturalism

The idea that different cultural perspectives and practices can coexist and even thrive together.

Group Polarization

Discussions within a group push members towards more extreme opinions.

Groupthink

The desire for harmony in a group leads to bad decision-making.

Diffusion of Responsibility

People in a group feel less accountable because responsibility is shared.

Social Loafing

People put in less effort when working in a group than when they're working alone.

Deindividuation

Being part of a group leads people to lose their sense of self-awareness.

Social Facilitation

Being in a group can improve performance.

False Consensus Effect

People overestimate how much others agree with their beliefs or behaviors.

Superordinate Goals

Shared goals that bring people together, even if they don't usually get along.

Social Traps

Short-term self-interest leads to long-term negative consequences.

Industrial-Organizational (IO) Psychologists

Apply psychology to the workplace to make it more efficient, productive, and less stressful.

Work-Life Balance

IO psychologists might recommend flexible schedules, mental health resources, or even suggest changes to company policies to help employees balance their work and personal lives.

Burnout

When employees are overworked, stressed, and completely exhausted.

Prosocial Behavior

Any action intended to help others.

Altruism

Helping others with no expectation of personal gain.

Social Reciprocity Norm

If someone does something nice for you, you're expected to return the favor.

Social Responsibility Norm

Helping those who depend on us, even if they can't pay us back.

Bystander Effect

People are less likely to help someone in need because there are other people around.

Personality

The unique patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that make you, well, you!

Freud's Psychodynamic Theory

Our personality is influenced by unconscious drives, childhood experiences, and inner conflicts that we're not always aware of.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious strategies our mind uses to protect us from anxiety or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.

Denial

Refusing to accept reality.

Displacement

Redirecting emotions to a safer target.

Projection

Blaming others for your own feelings.

Rationalization

Creating excuses for bad behavior.

Regression

Reverting to childish behaviors.

Repression

Burying distressing memories or thoughts in the unconscious.

Sublimation

Turning negative urges into something productive or socially acceptable.

Projective Tests

Tests designed to reveal the unconscious mind by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Shown ink blots and asked to describe what you see. Your interpretations reflect hidden thoughts, feelings, or desires buried in your unconscious.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Show a series of ambiguous images, like a person sitting by a window, and asked to tell a story about what's happening. Psychologists analyze the responses to uncover patterns that might reveal something about your personality or unconscious conflicts.

Humanistic Psychology

Focuses on personal growth, free will, and the belief that people have an inherent desire to become their best selves.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Being fully accepted and valued no matter what.

Self-Actualizing Tendency

The drive to reach your full potential, to grow, learn, and to become the best version of yourself.

Social Cognitive Theories of Personality

Focus on how our thoughts, behaviors, and environments interact to shape who we are.

Reciprocal Determinism

Our personality is shaped by the interactions between our behavior, thoughts, and environment.

Self-Concept

Your understanding of who you are.

Self-Efficacy

Your belief in your ability to succeed at a specific task.

Self-Esteem

How much value or worth we place on ourselves.

Trait Theories of Personality

Focus on identifying consistent patterns in how we think, feel, and behave.

Big Five Theory

Breaks personality into five main traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN or CANOE).

Openness

About curiosity and creativity. People high in openness love new experiences, while those low in openness prefer routine and tradition.

Conscientiousness

Refers to being organized, dependable, and goal-oriented. High conscientiousness means you're probably great at meeting deadlines, while low conscientiousness might mean you're a bit more spontaneous or a little forgetful.

Extraversion

Is all about energy and sociability. High extraversion means you thrive in social situations, while low extraversion, or introversion, means you recharge by spending time alone.

Agreeableness

Is about kindness and cooperation. People high in agreeableness are empathetic and helpful, while those lower in this trait might be more skeptical or competitive.

Neuroticism

Measures emotional stability. High neuroticism means you're more prone to stress and mood swings, while low neuroticism means you tend to stay calm under pressure—cool as a cucumber!

Self-Report Inventories

Questionnaires where people answer questions about their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Used to measure traits.

Reliability

The test produces consistent results.

Validity

The test measures what it's supposed to measure.

Motivation

The process that drives us to act.

Drive Reduction Theory

Our behavior is motivated by biological needs. When something's out of balance, it creates a state of tension called a drive that pushes you to fix it.

Homeostasis

Balance

Arousal Theory of Motivation

Focuses on finding the right level of excitement or stimulation.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Moderate arousal leads to the best performance—not too much, not too little.

Sensation Seeking

All about the need for excitement and new experiences.

Experience Seeking

One of the four sensation seeking catergories. Includes thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility.

Self-Determination Theory

Looks at the differences between two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic Motivation

When you're driven by personal satisfaction or interest.

Extrinsic Motivation

When you're driven by external rewards or pressures.

Incentive Theories

Explain how external rewards, like money and praise, can pull us toward a goal.