Motivation, Emotion, Personality, and Social Psychology

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to motivation, emotion, personality, and social psychology.

Motivated Behavior Characteristics

Activation, persistence, and intensity.

Drive-Reduction Theory

Motivation is based on the drive to reduce physiological needs.

Incentive Theory

Motivation is influenced by positive incentives that attract us, based on prior conditioning.

Arousal Theory

Individuals seek an optimal level of arousal to perform tasks.

Deci and Ryan's Fundamental Needs

Autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Emotion Requirements

Emotions require physiological changes, expressive behaviors, and conscious experiences.

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Emotional feelings follow bodily arousal; awareness of arousal leads to emotion.

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

Emotional feelings and bodily arousal occur simultaneously from the brain (thalamus).

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

Emotion arises from both physiological arousal and the cognitive label we apply.

Cognitive Appraisal Theory of Emotion

Emotions result from cognitive evaluation of a situation’s impact on personal well-being.

LeDoux's Pathways of Fear

One pathway leads to the cortex, the other to the amygdala.

Display Rules

Cultural norms that dictate emotional expression and management.

Darwin's Suggestion and Ekman's Findings

Capacity to experience emotion is an evolved trait shared by both humans and lower animals.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Focuses on unconscious motives and conflicts driving personality and actions.

Humanistic Perspective

Emphasizes self-actualization and self-transcendence in healthy individuals.

Trait Perspective

Stresses stable, enduring predispositions to behave in specific ways.

Social-Cognitive Perspective

Highlights conscious thought processes, self-regulation, and situational influences.

Self-Concept

All thoughts and feelings we have about ourselves.

Self-Efficacy

Our perceived competence and effectiveness.

Self-Esteem

Feelings of high or low self-worth.

Big Five Factors

Five core personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.

Reciprocal Determinism

Human behavior and personality result from interaction between behavioral, cognitive, and environmental factors.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to perceive oneself favorably.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Cognitive bias to overemphasize personality traits in others while underestimating situational factors.

Conformity

Compliance in response to a group standard.

Obedience

Compliance in response to a direct command from an authority figure.

Darly & Batson's Study

Found that situational influences affect people's willingness to help others.

Cognitive Dissonance

Mental tension from holding inconsistent thoughts, influencing behavior and attitudes.

Diffusion of Responsibility

When individuals feel less responsible in groups, leading to a loss of self-awareness.

Social Facilitation

Improved performance on tasks in the presence of others when skilled or the task is easy.

Social Loafing

Reduced effort by individuals in a group, especially when contributions are indistinguishable.

Prejudice

Preconceived negative judgments about a group and its individual members.

Discrimination

Unjustified negative behavior towards a group or its members.

Stereotypes

Generalized beliefs about groups that can lead to overgeneralization and danger.

Subtyping

Accommodating exceptions to stereotypes by considering individuals as separate cases.

Subgrouping

Creating new stereotypes for groups that comprise individuals who deviate from the original stereotype.

Implicit Attitude

Unconscious evaluations about people or concepts that affect behavior automatically.

Implicit Association Test

A tool designed to measure implicit biases.

Cognitive Sources of Prejudice

Result from categorizing objects into groups for cognitive ease.

Out-group Homogeneity Effect

The tendency to perceive members of an out-group as more similar than they are.

Social Sources of Prejudice

Learned prejudices typically instilled by families or society.

Just World Phenomenon

Belief that people's situations are deserved, reinforcing prejudice.

Sherif's Research Findings

Conflict can be reduced by having groups cooperate to solve shared issues.

Catherine Susan Genovese

An event that catalyzed research into bystander intervention and altruism.

Prosocial Behavior

Voluntary actions intended to help or benefit others.

Altruism

Motives to help others without considering one's own self-interest.

Increased Prosocial Behavior Factors

Cultivating empathy, modeling kindness, and fostering personal responsibility.

Reciprocity Norm

The expectation to return help to those who have helped us.

Social-Responsibility Norm

The belief that we should help others and do what is morally right.