AP Psychology - Unit Four

Social Psychology & Personality

Conformity

The adjustment of one’s behavior or beliefs to align with the norms or standard of the group

Normative Social Influence

Influence stemming from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval from others

Social Norms

Rules for expected or acceptable behavior prescribed by the group

Social Comparison

Evaluating one’s abilities and opinions by comparing oneself to others

Relative Deprivation

Perceiving oneself as worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself with others who are better off

Downward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself with others who are worse off

Informational Social Influence

Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

Obedience

Compliance with commands given by an authority figure

Social Facilitation

Improved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered

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

Bystander Effect

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

Diffusion of Responsibility

Diminished sense of responsibility to act because others are present

Social Loafing

The phenomenon whereby individuals become less productive in groups

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Attribution Theory

explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own and others’ behaviors

Dispositional Attributions

Attributing behavior to internal traits or personality factory

Situational Attributions

Sttributing behavior to external environmental circumstances

Explanatory Style

A person’s habitual way of explaining events, typically assessed along dimensions of stability, locus of control, and controllability

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Attributing failures to external, unstable, and specific causes

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Attributing failures to internal, stable, and global causes

Fundamental Attribution Error

Overestimating the influence of personalty and underestimating the influence of situations when evaluating others’ behavior

Actor-Observer Bias

A tendency to attribute one’s own actions to external causes, while attributing other people’s behaviors to internal causes

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute positive events to their own character but attribute negative events to external factors

Internal Locus of Control

The perception that one controls their own fate

External Locus of Control

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Altruism

The unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Social Responsibility Norm

A societal rule that tells people they should help others who need help even if doing so is costly

Stereotype

A generalized belief about a group of people

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment

Prejudice

An unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members

Discrimination

Unjustifiable negative behavior roward a group or its members

Implicit Attitudes

Unconsious belief that affect out understanding, actions, and decisions

Just-World Phenomenon

The tendency for people to believe that world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

Perceiving members of an out-group as more similar to one another than members of the in-group

In-Group Bias

The tendency to favor on one’s own group

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating other peoples and cultures according to the standards of one’s own culture

Collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining one’s identity accordingly

Multiculturalism

The preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society

Superordinate Goals

Shared goald that override differences among people and require their cooperation

Social Traps

A situation in which conflicting parties, by each rationally prusing their self-intrest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

Instincts

Fixed, inborn patterns of behavior that are biologically determined rather than learned

Drive-Reduction Theory

The idea that a physiological need creates and aroused tension state that motivates an organism

Homeostasis

The tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry around a particular level

Ghrelin

Hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach

Leptin

Hunger-dampening hormone involved in fat regulation

Hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward

Pituitary Gland

The endocrine system’s most influential gland; under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulated growth and controls other endocrine glands

Belongingness

The human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group

Arousal Theory

The theory that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

Sensation-Seeking Theory

The search for experiences and feelings that are varied, novel, complex, and intense

Thrill Seeking

Engaging in extreme sports and other activities involving physical risk

Adventure Seeking

Pursuing new and exciting experiences

Disinhibition

Expressing messages without considering the consequences of doing som often in an unrestrained manner

Bordom Susceptibility

Intolerance for repetition and routine; constantly seeking new and exciting experiences

Incentive Theory

A theory that suggests that behavior is motivated by a desire for reinforcement or incentives

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake

Self-Determination Theory

A theory of motivation that is concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and the harmful effects of extrinsic motivation

Lewin’s Motivational Conflicts Theory

A theory that describes different types of conflicts individuals might face, influencing their decision-making and behavior

Approach-Approach Conflicts

A choice between two appealing options

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflicts

A choice between two unappealing options

Approach-Avoidance Conflicts

A situation involving a single choice that carries both appealing and unappealing aspects

Emotion

A complex reaction pattern involving experiential, behavioral, and psychological elements, by which an individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter or event

Facial-Feedback Hypothesis

The idea that facial expression can influence emotions as well as reflect them

Display Rules

Culturally determined rules about which nonverbal behaviors are appropriate to display

Elicitors

Stimuli that provoke a psychological response

Broaden-and-Build Theory of Emotion

A theory suggesting that positive emotions broaden one’s awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions

Universal Emotions

Basic emotions that are recognized by all human cultures

Psychodynamic Theory

A view that explains personality in terms of conscious and unconscious forces

Preconscious Mind

Part of the mind whose contents can be brought into awareness through focused attention

Unconscious Mind

Part of the mind that houses emotional memories, desires, and feelings that are not easily accessible to conscious awareness

Denial

A defense mechanism by which people refuse to accept reality

Displacement

Shifting aggressive or sexual impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

Projection

Attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives to another

Rationalization

Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior

Reaction Formation

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

Regression

Retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated

Repression

Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious

Sublimation

Transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired goal

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective that emphasizes the growth potential of healthy people

Unconditional Positive Regard

An attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Self-Actualization Tendency

The human motive toward realizing out inner potential

Social-Cognitive Theory

A viewpoint stating that understanding behavior involves considering the reciprocal interactions among individuals, their behavior, and their environments

Reciprocal Determinism

The interacting influences between personality and environmental factors

Self-Concept

One’s beluef in one’s ability to succeed inn specific situations or accomplish a task

Self-Esteem

One’s feeling of high or low self-worth

Trait Theories

Theoretical perspectives in which personality is described in terms of traits or characteristic patterns of behavior

Big Five Theory

A trait theory that identifies five main characteristics that account for most individual differences in personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism

Personality Inventories

Questionaries used to assess personality traits

Factor Analysis

A statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors

Openness to Experience

A personality trait that signifies how open-minded, creative, and flexible an individual is

Conscientiousness

A personality trait characterized by organization, purposeful action, self-discipline, and a dirve to achieve

Extraversion

A personality trait what predisposes an individual to experience positive emotions and to be outgoing and sociable

Agreeableness

A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to be compassionate, cooperative, and friendly

Emotional Stability

A personality trait signifying a person’s ability to remain stable and balanced