Social Psychology - AP Psychology

Dispositional

A genetic tendency / personality

Situational

Circumstantial, because of an external reason

Actor-Observer Bias / Fundamental Attribution Theory

We attribute our own negative behavior to situational factors while attributing other negative behaviors to their disposition

Self-Serving Bias

Attributing success to our disposition or internal factors and our failures to situational or external factors

Defense Attribution

Blaming others for their misfortune

Ex.) People say that a girl who got raped deserved it because of the clothing she wore

Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon

Asking someone to comply w/ a small request first in order to make it easier to comply w/ a harder request

Door-in-the-face

Asking a large & unreasonable request that will be denied in order to place your real request on a relative scale

Reciprocity Norm

Doing something nice for someone with the expectation that they will feel obligated to do something nice in return

Central Route to Persuasion

Trying to convince your audience with the real content or feels

(your core argument)

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

Convincing your audience with appearances, personality factors, and outside dynamics to catch people’s attention

(looks, jingles, status)

Role Playing

Everyone is able to fake it till’ they make it

(think of facial feedback theory)

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

When our actions don’t match w/ our beliefs - we then change our beliefs to avoid being uncomfortable

Normative Social Influence

We conform for approval, to fit in

(we conform for the norm)

Informative Social Influence

We conform to be open-minded, to see others perspectives

(we conform for the info)

Stanley Milgrim’s Shock experiment

65% of his subjects gave shock of 450 volts to the “learner”

Factors of obedience:

• Clothing

• Gender (Male, more obedience)

• Age (Older, more obedience)

Phillip ZImbardo

• Had to stop experiment after 6 days (Scheduled for 2 weeks)

• Exposed that humans tend to take advantage of higher positions of power

Group Think

The desire to preserve cohesiveness within a group outweighs investing logic when decision making

Social Facilitation

The tendency to boost one’s performative in the presence of others

Social Loathing

The tendency to slack off in groups because we feel less accountable

Group Polarization

The tendency for group discussions to amplify the prevailing attitudes and opinions of its members, causing them to become more extreme than they were initially

Deindividuation

Losing a sense of responsibility and personal morality when in a group that promotes anonymity

Ex.) LA Riots 1992

Social Inequalities

Races and other ethnicities are not given the same resources

Ingroup Bias

The tendency to prefer those who are In similar social categories

Ethnocentrism

The inability to perceive a culture or ethnicity outside of the standards and values of their own culture or ethnicity

Scapegoating

A group of people, usually minorities, that are blamed for the failures of majority culture

Representatives Heuristic

The tendency to form a judgement about a person based on the prototype of their race / ethnicity

For example, the fear of those who follow Islam or are of Middle Eastern descent following 9/11

Just-World Phenomenon

The belief that people get what’s coming to them

For example, most people say black people are impoverished because they are lazy, failing to acknowledge systemic issues.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for witnesses to deny responsibility when other witnesses are present

Ex.) The Kitty Genovese crime

Social Trap

When two or more people are seeking the same resources and act in self interest which backfires on all involved

Social Exchange Theory

If the rewards are greater than the drawbacks, we are more likely to help

Reciprocity Norm

We help those who have helped us before

Social Responsibility Norm

We feel morally obligated to help those who we are psychically or mentally better of then

Subordinate Goals

Shared goals that help to reduce tension between enemies

Similarity

Having shared interest values, interests, or beliefs

Attractiveness

Desire for someone physically based on their appearance

Proximity

How close someone is to you

Mere-Exposure Effect

The tendency to grow found of repeated stimuli

Passion

Physical and emotional arousal

(Correlates with hormones)

Intimacy

The desire to disclose deep parts of yourself to someone else → vulnerability

Commitment

Dedicating yourself to the long term relationship