Chapter 11: Social Psychology - Interacting with Those Around Us

Flashcards covering key concepts from Chapter 11 (Social Psychology) of Introduction to Psychology v4.0 by Charles Stangor and Sue Frantz.

How is social psychology defined in the text?

Social psychology is the scientific study of how we feel about, think about, and behave toward the other people around us and how those people influence our thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

What is social cognition?

Social cognition is the part of human thinking that helps us understand and predict the behavior of ourselves and others.

How do stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination differ in terms of cognition, emotion, and behavior?

Stereotyping is cognitive (attributing personality characteristics based on external appearance or group membership), prejudice is emotional (disliking people because of group memberships), and discrimination is behavioral (negative behaviors toward others based on prejudice).

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our expectations about another person's personality characteristics lead us to behave in ways that make those beliefs come true.

What are the four ways first impressions of faces are formed regardless of culture?

The four ways are baby-face overgeneralization, familiar-face overgeneralization, unfit-face overgeneralization, and emotional-face overgeneralization.

What are the four personal space distance zones mentioned in the text?

The four zones are the public distance zone, social distance zone, personal distance zone, and intimate distance zone.

What three key factors drive interpersonal attraction?

Interpersonal attraction is driven by similarity, self-disclosure, and proximity.

What is the mere exposure effect?

The mere exposure effect is the tendency to prefer stimuli, including people, that we have seen more frequently.

What is the Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale used for?

It is a tool used to assess how close a relationship is, which predicts relationship satisfaction and the tendency for couples to stay together.

What is the fundamental attribution error?

The fundamental attribution error is the common tendency to overestimate the role of personal factors and overlook the impact of situations when judging others.

What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

The foot-in-the-door technique is a method of persuasion in which a person is first persuaded to accept a minor request and then asked for a larger request after that.

What is cognitive dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort experienced when a person's behavior does not align with their thoughts or beliefs.

What is the sunk cost fallacy?

The sunk cost fallacy is the tendency to continue a course of action in which one has already invested money, time, or effort.

What is altruism?

Altruism is any behavior designed to increase another person's welfare, particularly actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them.

How does reciprocal altruism differ from the social responsibility norm?

Reciprocal altruism operates on the expectation that helping others now means they will return the favor in the future, while the social responsibility norm dictates that we should help those in need without any expectation of future paybacks.

What causes the bystander effect according to the concept of diffusion of responsibility?

Diffusion of responsibility causes people to assume that others present will take action, leading individuals not to take action themselves.

What three steps are recommended to overcome the bystander effect in an emergency?

1. Make sure others notice and interpret it as an emergency by yelling 'Emergency!'. 2. Identify one specific person in the crowd (e.g., 'You, in the yellow jacket!'). 3. Give that identified person a task (e.g., 'Call 911!').

What is catharsis in the context of aggression, and what does research say about it?

Catharsis is the mistaken belief that observing or engaging in less harmful aggressive actions will reduce more harmful aggression later.

What is a culture of honor?

A culture of honor is a social norm that condones and even encourages responding to insults with aggression.

What were the numerical results of Solomon Asch's group conformity study?

In Asch's study, $76\%$ of participants gave at least one incorrect response, and overall $37\%$ of the responses were conforming.

What were the maximum voltage findings in Stanley Milgram's original obedience study and the 2006 replication?

In Milgram's original study, $65\%$ of participants administered shocks up to the $450\,V$ maximum. In the 2006 replication, ethical considerations prevented participants from going above $150\,V$.

What is psychological reactance?

Psychological reactance is a strong emotional reaction that leads people to resist conformity when they feel their freedom is being threatened.

According to the Drive-Arousal Model, when does the presence of others cause social facilitation versus social inhibition?

The presence of others results in social facilitation (better performance) when the task is easy or well-learned, and social inhibition (poorer performance) when the task is hard or not well-learned.

What is social loafing?

Social loafing is a group process loss where people do not work as hard in a group as they do when working alone.

What is groupthink, and what historical events were implicated by it?

Groupthink occurs when group members prioritizing harmony fail to voice concerns, leading to a poor decision. It was implicated in the 2002 decision to invade Iraq, the 1986 and 2003 space shuttle crashes, and the 2001 Enron debacle.

What is the illusion of group productivity?

The illusion of group productivity is the tendency for group members to overvalue the productivity of the groups in which they work.