psychology of social situations

social norms

define expectations and roles a society may have for its members in individual and social situations

social influence theory

proposes that social pressure to behave in certain ways can be normative or informational

informational social pressure

tendency to conform to what others are doing or saying because we perceive them as an accurate source of information

normative social pressure

a person conforms to fit in with the group because they don’t want to appear foolish or be left out

it is usually temporary and does not change personal beliefs

persuasion

the process by which one person tries to change an attitude of another person

central route processing

involves careful thinking and evaluation of facts and arguments

focuses on the main content of the message to be persuaded

peripheral route persuasion

involves relying on emotions, attractiveness, and other superficial factors of the message to be persuaded

elaboration likelihood model

theory of persuasion that says there are two main routes through which people process persuasive messages: central route and peripheral route

halo effect

bias where when someone does something positive, they are looked at in a positive way

foot-in-the-door technique

starting with a small request then asking for a larger one

door-in-the-face technique

starting with an unreasonably large offer, then asking for a more reasonable one

lowball technique

once a comittment is made, the cost of the commitment is increased

conformity

changing ones own behavior to more closely match the actions of others

obedience

changing ones behavior at the direct order of an authority figure

individualism

cultural differences in overall personality where a culture has loose ties between individuals

people tend to look out for themselves

emphasis on autonomy, change, youth, security of individual, and equality

collectivism

cultural difference in overall personality where people are deeply tied into very strong in-groups, typically centered around improvement of the group, rather than individuals

multiculturalism

the coexistence and interaction of multiple cultural groups within a society, influencing how individuals perceive and behave towards themselves and others

group polarization

tendency for members in a group discussion to take more extreme positions and suggest riskier actionsp

groupthink

people within a group feel it is more important to maintain the group’s cohesiveness rather than to consider the facts realistically

diffusion of responsibility

a person fails to take responsibility for either action or inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility

social loafing

people in a group do not work hard if others are working

deindividuation

people engage in seemingly impulsive or deviant behavior in situations where they believe they cannot be personally identified because they are in a group

social facilitation

if a task is perceived as easy, the presence of others will improve performance

social impairment

if a task is perceived as hard, the presence of others has a negative effect on performance

false consensus effect

causes people to overestimate extent to which their beliefs or values are shared by others

superordinate goals

serve to unite disparate groups under a common goal and help reduce negative affect and stereotyping among these groups

social traps

people act in their own self interest to the detriment of the group

industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

the branch of psychology that studies how people perform in workplace settings and applies psychological principles to improve management, workplace relationships, and employee wellbeing

social responsibility norm

societal expectation that people should engage in prosocial behavior to contribute to the wellbeing of their community

social reciprocity norm

societal expectation that people should return favors to someone who helped them

bystander effect

the likelihood of a bystander to help someone in trouble decreases as the number of bystanders increases

altruism

helping behavior motivated by genuine concern and not personal gain