Social Psychology Lecture Overview

Vocabulary flashcards covering the major concepts, theories, and experiments discussed in the Social Psychology lecture.

Social Psychology

Scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others and by the social environment.

Social Cognition

The mental processes used to perceive, interpret, and remember information about the social world.

Social Influence

How people and situations push or pull our behavior, including conformity, obedience, persuasion, and group effects.

Person Perception

Active, subjective process of forming impressions and judgments about other people.

Four Principles of Person Perception

Reactions based on perceptions; goals guide attention; social norms shape evaluations; self-perception influences impressions of others.

Social Categorization

Mental shortcut of grouping people by shared characteristics, using both conscious and unconscious processing.

Explicit Cognition

Conscious, deliberate thoughts and beliefs we can report and control.

Implicit Cognition

Unconscious, automatic mental processes that influence judgments and behavior, often housing biases.

Implicit Personality Theory

Unconscious assumptions that certain personality traits naturally co-occur (e.g., friendly → generous).

Attractiveness Bias

"What is Beautiful is Good" stereotype—attributing positive traits to physically attractive people.

Attribution

Process of explaining one’s own and others’ behavior by assigning causes.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency to overemphasize personal traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining others’ behavior.

Blaming the Victim

Attributing a victim’s misfortune to the victim’s actions or character, insulating oneself from threat.

Just-World Hypothesis

Belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve, fostering victim-blaming.

Hindsight Bias

After an event, overestimating one’s ability to have predicted the outcome ("I knew it all along").

Self-Serving Bias

Attributing successes to internal factors and failures to external factors in one’s own behavior.

Attitude

Learned tendency to evaluate an object, person, or issue positively, negatively, or ambivalently.

Affective Component

Emotional feelings associated with an attitude object (the "A" in ABC model).

Behavioral Component

Actions toward an attitude object influenced by one’s stance (the "B" in ABC model).

Cognitive Component

Beliefs and thoughts about an attitude object (the "C" in ABC model).

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychological tension from holding inconsistent cognitions, often resolved by changing attitudes to justify behavior.

Stereotype

Cluster of characteristics attributed to all members of a social group, simplifying but often distorting perception.

In-Group

Social group to which one belongs—"us."

Out-Group

Social groups to which one does not belong—"them."

In-Group Bias

Tendency to judge in-group members more favorably than out-group members.

Out-Group Homogeneity Effect

Perception that out-group members are more similar to each other than in-group members are.

Prejudice

Negative attitude toward people based solely on their membership in a specific social group.

Robbers Cave Experiment

Study showing that intergroup hostility can be reduced through cooperative goals requiring joint effort.

Jigsaw Classroom

Cooperative learning method in which each student holds unique information, reducing prejudice and increasing empathy.

Conformity

Adjusting opinions or behavior to align with group norms or expectations.

Normative Social Influence

Conforming to gain approval or avoid disapproval from others.

Informational Social Influence

Conforming because the group is viewed as a source of accurate information, especially in ambiguity.

Asch Conformity Experiment

Classic study where participants agreed with incorrect group judgments about line length, illustrating conformity.

Obedience

Performing an action in response to a direct order from an authority figure.

Milgram Experiment

Study showing 65% of participants administered maximum shocks to a learner under authority pressure.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Persuasion strategy that starts with a small request to increase compliance with a larger request later.

Low-Ball Technique

Persuasion tactic that gets commitment at a low cost and then raises the cost after commitment is made.

Prosocial Behavior

Any action intended to help another person, regardless of motive.

Altruism

Prosocial behavior performed with no expectation of personal reward.

Aggression

Verbal or physical behavior intended to harm another person.

Bystander Effect

Phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help when more bystanders are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

Assumption that others will take action, reducing personal responsibility to intervene.

Social Facilitation

Enhanced performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others; impairment for difficult tasks.

Social Loafing

Tendency to exert less effort on group tasks when individual performance is not evaluated.

Social Striving

Greater individual effort on group tasks common in many collectivistic cultures—opposite of social loafing.

Deindividuation

Reduced self-awareness and inhibition when individuals feel anonymous within a group.

Culture of Honor

Cultural norm emphasizing male toughness and retaliation, associated with higher aggression rates.