social psychology

Dispositional Attribution

Attributing behavior to a person's internal traits (e.g., personality, laziness).

Situational Attribution

Attributing behavior to external circumstances (e.g., traffic, illness).

Fundamental Attribution Error

Overestimating personal traits and underestimating situational factors when judging others.

Actor–Observer Bias

Attributing our actions to the situation but others' actions to their personality.

Self-Serving Bias

Taking credit for success but blaming failure on external factors.

Halo Effect

One positive trait makes us assume other positive traits (e.g., "She’s attractive, so she must be smart").

Factor: Proximity

We like people who are physically close (mere exposure effect).

Factor: Reciprocal Liking

We like people who like us.

Factor: Physical Attractiveness

Attractiveness affects how we judge personality; influenced by culture and personal background.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Start with a small request, then ask for a larger one.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Start with a big request, then ask for a smaller one.

Low-Balling Technique

Getting someone to agree and then adding hidden costs later.

Cognitive Dissonance

Mental discomfort from holding contradictory beliefs or actions.

How to reduce cognitive dissonance?

Change beliefs/behavior, add new beliefs, or minimize the importance of the conflict.

Cause of dissonance: Smoking

Smoking causes dissonance if one believes it's unhealthy but continues doing it.

Persuasion: Source

Effectiveness depends on credibility, likability, trustworthiness.

Persuasion: Message

Effective if logical, emotional, clear, and strong.

Persuasion: Audience

Depends on audience mood, personality, attention.

Bystander Effect

People are less likely to help when more people are present (diffusion of responsibility).

Asch’s Conformity

People conform to group pressure, even when it’s incorrect.

Matching Hypothesis

People choose romantic partners of similar attractiveness.

Deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness in groups leads to impulsive or deviant behavior.

Social Identity Theory (Haslam & Reicher, 2008)

Stanford Prison Experiment: roles and group identity strongly influence behavior.

Coaction Effect

Improved task performance when working near others, even without interaction.

Social Facilitation

Better performance on easy tasks, worse on difficult ones, when being observed.

Audience Effect

Effect on performance caused by presence of an observing audience.

Social Loafing

People put in less effort when working in groups than alone.

Group Polarization

Group discussion leads individuals to adopt more extreme positions.

Groupthink

Desire for harmony suppresses dissent and critical thinking, leading to poor decisions.

What motivates people to help?

Empathy, commitment, and personal values (e.g., altruism).

Empathy (Batson, 2010)

We help others because we can emotionally understand their perspective.

Commitment & Altruism

We’re more likely to help people we are committed to.

Benefits of Helping

Helping increases altruism and gratitude toward life.