Chapter 13

social psychology

The study of the causes and consequences of sociality.

aggression

Behaviour whose purpose is to harm another.

frustration-aggression hypothesis

A principle stating that animals aggressive when their goals are frustrated.

proactive aggression

Aggression that is planned and purposeful.

reactive aggression

Aggression that occurs spontaneously in response to a negative affective state.

cooperation

Behaviour by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit.

group

A collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them from others.

in-group favouritism

Tendency to treat people better when they are members of one’s own group than when they are not.

common knowledge effect

The tendency for group discussions to focus on information that all members share.

group polarization

The tendency of groups to make decisions that are more extreme than any member would have made alone.

groupthink

The tendency of groups to reach consensus in order to facilitate interpersonal harmony.

deindividuation

A phenomenon in which immersion in a group causes people to become less concerned with their personal values,

diffusion of responsibility

The tendency of individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when surrounded by other who are acting the same way.

social loafing

The tendency of people to expend less effort when in a group than when alone.

bystander effect

The tendency for people to be less likely to help a stranger in an emergency situation when other bystanders are present.

altruism

Intentional behaviour that benefits another at a potential cost to oneself.

kin selection

The process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives.

reciprocal alturism

Behaviour that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future.

mere exposure effect

The tendency for liking of a stimulus to increase with the amount of of exposure to that stimulus.

homophile

The tendency for people to like others who are similar to themselves.

passionate love

An experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction.

companionate love

An experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner’s well-being.

comparison level for alternatives

The cost-benefit ratio that a person believes they could attain in another relationship.

equity

A state of affairs in which the cost/benefit ratios of two partners are roughly equally favourable.

social cognition

The processes by which people come to understand others.

category-based inferences

Inferences based on information about the categories to which a person belongs.

target-based inferences

Inferences based on information about an individual’s behaviour.

stereotyping

The process of drawing inferences about individuals based on their category membership.

prejudice

A negative evaluation of another person based solely on their category membership.

discrimination

Negative behaviour towards another person based solely on their category membership.

behavioural confirmation

The tendency of targets to behave as observers expect them to behave.

stereotype threat

The anxiety associated with the possibility of confirming other people’ stereotypes about one’s group.

perpetual confirmation

The tendency of observers to see what they expect to see.

subtyping

The tendency of observers to think of targets who disconfirm stereotypes as “exceptions to the rule.”

attribution

An inference about the cause of a person’s behaviour.

fundamental attribution error

The tendency to make a dispositional attribution even when we should instead make a situational attribution.

actor-observer effect

The tendency to make situational attributions for our own behaviour while making dispositional attribution for the identical behaviour of others.

social influence

The ability to change or direct another person’s behaviour. 

overjustification effect

An effect that occurs when a reward decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a behaviour.

reactance

An unpleasant feeling that arises when people feel they are being coerced.

norms

Customary standards for behaviour that are widely shared by members of a culture.

norm of reciprocity

The unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have benefited them.

normative influence

A phenomenon in which another person’s behaviour provides information about what is appropriate.

door-in-the-face technique

An influence strategy that involves getting someone to accept a small request by first getting them to refuse a large request.

conformity

The tendency to do what others do.

obedience

The tendency to do what authorities tell us to do.

attitude

An enduring positive or negative evaluation of a stimulus.

belief

An enduring piece of knowledge about a stimulus.

informational influence

A phenomenon that occurs when another person’s behaviour provides information about what is good or true.

persuasion

A phenomenon that occurs when a person’s attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a communication from another person.

central-route persuasion

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to reason

peripheral-route persuasion

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion.

foot-in-the-door technique

A technique that involves making a small request and following it with a larger request.

cognitive dissonance

An unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of their actions, attitudes, or beliefs.