Studied by 8 people
vocab quiz on february 2/18/25 || will finish this tomorrow, i have no energy
Personality psychologists
psychologists who study personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disordered forms (personality disorders)
Social psychologists
psychologists who study how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Person perception
how we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior
Attibution theory
the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution)
Fundamental attribution error
the tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
Actor-observer bias
the tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal causes. this contributes to the fundamental attribution error (which focuses on our explanations for others’ behavior)
Prejudice
an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. prejudice generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
Stereotype
a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people
Discrimination
in social psychology, unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members
Just-world phenomenon
the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
Social identity
the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships
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. aka the cross-race effect and the own-race bias
Attitudes
feelings, often influenced by 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 react to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. for example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes
Persuasion
changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions
Peripheral route persuasion
occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness
Norms
a society’s understood roles for accepted and expected behavior. norms describe “proper” behavior in individual and social situations
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
Informational social influence
influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
Obedience
complying with an order or a command
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
the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion 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
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
a place with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms
Loose culture
a place with flexible and informal norms
Aggression
any physical or verbal behavior 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
