Social Psychology - AP Psychology

social psychology

how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

attribution theory

the idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior - is someone having a bad day or are they a bad person

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

attitude

a belief or feeling, influenced by our belief that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as endorsements by respected people

example - colgate does a commercial and Margot Robbie is saying how well it cleans your teeth, so everyone is influenced and wants to buy it

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

example - a car company emphasizes how the car's good quality safety features should influence people to buy it

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

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

example - a friend asks you to fix their air ventilation once, then he starts asking you once a month, then he starts asking you to fix his electricity and his stove and etc.

door-in-the-face-phenomenon

the tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply to a smaller one

example - your wife doesn't want you to gamble $50, and you tell her you could've gambled either $1,000 or $50 to make $50 not look as bad

role

set of expectations about social position (this affects the attitudes of people)

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent

conformity

adjusting to one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid punishment

informational social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality

social facilitation

improved performance of tasks in the presence of others

example: home field advantage

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal

deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and identity when in a group of people to faster arousal and anonymity

group polarization

enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group; people opinions/views become more extreme around others

groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony overrides common sense in a decision-making group to avoid any trouble

culture

enduring behaviors, ideas ,etc. shared by a group of people that's transmitted from one generation to the next

norm

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior

prejudice

an unjustifiable attitude towards a group of people (thought, cognition, attitude)

stereotype

a generalized belief about a group of people

discrimination

unjustifiable actions, two types:

• subtle - unjustified assumptions, failure to include people who are like us (ex: questioning the judgment of a female worker, microaggression)

• overt - hostility or negative feelings held by someone about a racialized group or person, very much out there (ex: Jim Crow Laws)

implicit racial association

associate positive words with positive objects and vice versa

race-influenced perception

type of implicit prejudice where we assume certain things based on race alone

reflexive bodily responses

people display signals as their body responds selectively to another's race (ex: a woman crosses to the other sidewalk on the other side of the road because a hooded figure is walking her way)

vivid cases (availability heuristic)

tendency to make judgments based on what is available in our short-term memory

just-world phenomenon

believe the world is just; people get what they deserve

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 one's own group

scapegoat theory

the theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame (ex: the Holocaust happened because Hitler blamed the Jewish for the failure of their nation)

other-race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races; people of a certain race all look the same; contributes to stereotyping

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

biology of aggression

the amygdala (responsible for fear, rage, anger, and aggression) and the pre-frontal cortex (executive functions) have genetic/neural influences on someones aggression

frustration-aggressive principle

the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal; we fail once and are afraid to never reach our goal (ex: if we are uncomfortably hot, we become irritated and causes aggression)

social script

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations; we witness behavior and we replicate it