informational social influence
influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality
social psychology
the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
cognitive dissonance
an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs
chameleon effect
unconsciously mimicking others expressions, postures, and voice tones to help us feel what they are feeling
mood linkage
the tendency for people to unconsiously immitate others emotions (monkey see, monkey do)
attribution error/theory
error made in attributing the causes for someone's behavior to their membership in a particular group, such as a racial group
fundamental attribution error
the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition (personality)
example of fundamental attribution error
ex. thinking a cashier is lazy/bad at his job, when in reality, he could just be sick/tired because he is a student
situational attribution (external)
attributing behavior to the environment
dispositional attribution (internal)
attributing behavior to the person's disposition/personality and traits
attitudes
beliefs and feelings about people, objects, and ideas/events that guide our behavior and remain stable overtime
behavior
observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals
do attitudes influence behavior? or does behavior influence attitude?
Both! It's a two-way street
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
door-in-the-face phenomenon
tendency for people who won't agree to a large task, but then agree when a smaller request is made
Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment
an experiment in which people were assigned to be guards or prisoners- studied how drastically behaviors can change under certain circumstances
Milgram's Obedience Study
An experiment in which Stanley Milgram found that people will usually obey an authority, even if they might think what they are doing is wrong.
Leon Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory
The conflict that you feel when your attitudes are not in sync with your behaviors. often solved by rationalizing/changing our attitude instead of our behavior
central route to persuasion
occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts (works well for ppl with a higher IQ)
peripheral route to persuasion
occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness (works well for children and ppl with a low IQ)
conformity
adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
social loafing
the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
normative social influence
influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
asch line study
Soloman Asch ran a study in which participants were shown 4 lines and asked which two were the same size. Actors who were in on the study, would lie and give the incorrect answer. 75% of participants gave at least one wrong answer and in 37% of the trials, the subject chose the wrong line. This shows that people are very susceptible to peer pressure/conformity.
deindividualization
the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
example of deindividualization
ex. You're at a concert and everyone is jumping up and down, screaming loudly, so you join in. Or you're in a group of people who are becoming aggressive and screaming obscenities at another group, so you join in.
group polarization
the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group
example of group polarization
ex. After a discussion about communism, members of the group who are communist will defend their attitudes far more strongly than they would have beforehand.
groupthink
the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
example of groupthink
ex. President JFK and his advisors decision to launch an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs
social loafing
the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
norm(s)
rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
prejuidice
an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members; generally involves stereotype beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to descriminition (negative attitude)
stereotype
a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people
discrimination
unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members (negative behavior)
In-group(s)
"us" - people who share a common identity
in-group bias
the tendency to favor one's own group
example of in-group bias
ex. thinking your school is better than others
ethnocentrism
belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.
out-group(s)
social groups with whom a person does not identify; "them"
out-group bias
tendency to view all individuals outside our group as highly similar
scapegoat theory
the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
other-race effect
the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races
reasons for aggression
• Instinct
• Learned behavior (social learning)
Perceptions of behaviors in a situation (cognitive)
Principles of Attraction
proximity, physical attractiveness, similarity
Proximity
(geographic nearness); provides opportunities for friendship and aggression
Physical Attractiveness
once proximity affords contact, the next most important thing in attraction is physical appearance
Similarity
when two things/people have something in common = longer, happier relationship
mere exposure effect
the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
two-factor theory
the Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal
bystander effect
the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others
norm of reciprocity
the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future
social exchange theory
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
social trap
a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior
example of a social trap
ex. continued fossil fuel use though it may effect future generations negatively
social facilitation
improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others
social inhibitation
a decrease in performance in front of a crowd
just-world phenomenon
the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
example of the just-world phenomenon
ex. that homeless person deserves what has come to him
frustration-aggression principle
the principle that frustration, the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal, creates anger which can generate aggression
social scripts
culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations
social learning theory
the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished (modeling and reinforcement)
superordinate goals
peacemaking; shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation
examples of subordinate goals
ex. jigsaw classroom or Robbers Cave Experiment
GRIT (Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension Reduction)
a strategy designed to decrease international tensions; "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours"
Soloman Asch
a social psychologist that studied conformity through their famous line experiment
Stanley Milgram
conducted "shocking" (Ha!) experiments on obedience
Philip Zimbardo
made the Stanford Prison Study, which studied power of social roles to influence people's behavior; proved that peoples behavior depends to a large extent on the roles they are asked to play
Muzafer Sherif
a founder of social psychology, studied social norms, conducted Robber's Cave experiment
Robert Cialdini
studied psychology of persuasion, concluded that fear tactics are unsucessful in persuasion
John Darley and Bibb Latane
conducted the smokey room experiment; discovered the bystander effect/diffusion of responsibility
Irving Janis
studied group dynamics, responsible for theory of "groupthink"
Rosenthal and Jacobson
conducted studies in schools, found that kids labeled intelligent and would succeed scored higher due to teacher higher expectations (pygmalion effect)
pygmalion effect
higher expectations lead to an increase in performance
prejudice vs discrimination
negative ATTITUDE vs negative BEHAVIOR