psych unit 4

personality psychologist

study the personal traits and genetics that explain why, in a given situation, different people act differently

social psychologist

study the social influences that explain why the same person acts differently in different situations

person perception

how we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation (situational attribution) or the persons traits (dispositional attribution)

FAE (fundamental attribution error)

the tendency for observers, when analyzing other's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

actor-observer bias

the tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute other's behavior to internal causes. (contributes to fae)

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude towards a group and its members. generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminating action

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often over generalized) belief about a group of people

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

just-world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe tje works ka just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

social identity

the “we“ aspect of our self-concept, the part of our answer to “who am i?“ that comes from our group memberships

ingroups

“us“ the people with whom we share a common identity

outgroups

“them“ the people that are different or out of our ingroup

scapegoat theory

when things go wrong, finding someone to blame can provide a target for negative emotions. the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

other race effect

the tendency to recall the faves of ones own race more accurately than the faces of other races. also called the cross-race effect and race bias

explanatory style

a predictable pattern of attributes

social comparison

by comparing ourselves to others, we judge wether we are succeeding or failing

cognitive load

what it takes to make decisions or judgments

ethnocentrism

the tendency to view our own ethnic or racial group as superior

outgroup homogeneity

uniformity of attitudes, personality, and appearance

dispositional attributions

attributing behavior to personal disposition even when told behavior is situational

self serving bias

people with high self esteem and self confidence typically credit their good deeds and accomplishments to their own traits and blame the mistakes and failures on the situation

implicit attitudes

an unthinking knee jerk reaction operating below the radar, leaving us unaware of how our attitudes are influencing our behavior

ingroup bias

favoring your own group

attitudes

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

door in the face

approach someone with an unreasonable request followed by a more moderate request

foot in the door

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to later comply with a larger request

role

a set of expectations (norms) abt a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

leon fesiger

made the cognative dissonance theory

cognative dissonance theory

we may adjust our actions to match our attitudes. but, we might also adjust out attitudes making them mlre in line with our past actions. we dont want our actions and attitudes to have dissonance

persuasion

changing peoples attitudes, potentially influencing their actions

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced bu incidental cues, such as a speakers attractiveness

halo effect

when celebrity endorsements influence us, as we may believe beautiful or famous people are especially smart or trustworthy

central route of persuasion

occurs when interested peoples thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments