Social Psychology

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to others.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency, when analyzing others’ behavior, to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of the situation.

Attitude

Feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

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

Role

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The theory that we act to reduce our own discomfort (dissonance) when two of our thoughts (cognitions) clash. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions don’t match, we may change our attitudes so that we feel more comfortable.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Occurs when people are influenced by attention-getting cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.

Central Route Persuasion

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

Norms

Understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior.

Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Tight Culture

Places with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms.

Loose Culture

Places with flexible and informal norms.

Conformity

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Normative Social Influence

Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Informative Social Influence

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

Social Facilitation

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

Social Loafing

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

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

Group Polarization

Strengthening of a group’s preexisting attitudes through discussions within the group.

Groupthink

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Prejudice

An unfair and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves negative feelings, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Stereotype

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

Discrimination

Unfair negative behavior toward a group or its members.

Implicit Bias

Unconscious favoritism toward or prejudice against people of a particular race, gender, or other social group.

Just World Bias

The tendency to believe that the world is just and people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Ingroup

“Us”—people with whom we share a common identity.

Outgroup

“Them”—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.

Ingroup Bias

The tendency to favor our own group.

Scapegoat Theory

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Other-Race Effect

The tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.

Aggression

Any act intended to harm someone physically or emotionally.

Frustration-Aggression Principle

The principle that frustration—the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal—creates anger, which can generate aggression.

Social Script

A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

Mere Exposure Effect

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

Passionate Love

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of romantic love.

Compassionate Love

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for someone with whom our life is intertwined.

Equity

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.

Self-Disclosure

Revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others.

Altruism

Unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

Reciprocity Norm

An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Social Responsibility Norm

An expectation that people will help those needing their help.

Conflict

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.

Mirror-Image Perceptions

Mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each side perceives itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.

Superordinate Goals

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.