Psychology Concepts and Theories

A set of flashcards covering key psychological concepts, theories, and terms for review and exam preparation.

Deindividuation

A psychological state characterized by a loss of self-awareness in groups.

Group Polarization

The tendency for group discussions to enhance the group's prevailing attitudes towards an issue.

Groupthink

A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group.

Culture

The behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that a group of people accept.

Tight Culture

Cultures with strong social norms and low tolerance for deviance.

Loose Culture

Cultures with weak social norms and high tolerance for deviance.

Aggression

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

Frustration-Aggression Principle

The principle that frustration often leads to aggression.

Social Script

Culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations.

Mere Exposure Effect

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

Passionate Love

An intense emotional and physical attraction to another person.

Companionate Love

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

Equity

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.

Self-Disclosure

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

Altruism

The unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

Bystander Effect

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

Social Exchange Theory

The theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one's rewards and minimize one's costs.

Reciprocity Norm

The expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Social-Responsibility Norm

The expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.

Conflict

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.

Social Trap

A situation in which conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.

Mirror-Image Perceptions

Mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.

Superordinate Goals

Goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

GRIT

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction, a strategy to decrease international tensions.

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Psychodynamic Theories

Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts.

Unconscious

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

Free Association

In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind.

Id

In Freud's theory, the part of personality that contains our instincts, needs, and desires.

Ego

The largely conscious,