Social Psychology : Vocab

Normative Social influence

we want to gain approval (sensitive to social norms)

Informational social influence

we want to be seen as having the correct answer (sensitivity to being wrong)

Chameleon effect

life's natural (unconscious) tendencies to mimic another

Mood linkage

used to describe emotions

Social Norms

understood rules for accepted and expected behavior

Dispositional Attribution

we assume that a person's behavior results from who they are (stable personality traits)

Situational Attribution

a person's behavior results from the situation they're in

Fundamental attribution error

the tendency to attribute people's behavior to their disposition and we underestimate the impact of the situation

Central route persuasion

attempting to convince someone of something using specific, detailed arguments about the thing itself

Peripheral Route Persuasion

attempting to convince someone of something using incidental cues sometimes unrelated to the thing (ex celebrity endorsement)

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

if a person first agrees to a small request they're more likely to agree to a second larger request

Door-in-the-face phenomenon

starting with an unreasonable request to then scale it back to what you're actually looking for

Role-playing (impact on attitudes/behavior)

in a new situation you feel, at first, as if you are acting a role
role- a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Conditions that impact Conformity

1) We feel incompetent or insecure
2) large group
3) group is unanimous
4) we admire an individual in the group
5) answer is visual
6) from a culture that values social norms

Cognitive Dissonance theory

Leon Festinger
when our thoughts/beliefs and behaviors are inconsistent with one another, we feel uncomfortable

Just world phenomenon

the belief that people "get what they deserve"

Self-fulfilling prophecy

when we are convinced that a situation will have a particular outcome, we (usually unconsciously) direct our behavior towards that outcome

Self-disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

Spotlight Effect

we assume that people are paying more attention to our behavior than they actually are (especially embarrassing or uncomfortable situations)

Hindsight Bias

the tendency to think "I knew it all along" even if we didn't actually predict the event that happened

Confirmation Bias

once we have formed an opinion about a person or thing, we only look at evidence that supports that opinion

Belief Perseverance

we stick to our beliefs, even when presented with evidence that they might be incorrect

Slef-serving Bias

tendency to interpret situation in a way that benefits ourselves

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

Deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity (ex violence)

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/diffusion of responsibility

any one given bystander is less likely to give help if other bystanders are present

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Biological influences of aggression

Genetic, Neural, Biochemical (hormones, alcohol, testosterone)

Frustration-aggression principle

the principle that frustration creates anger, which can generate aggression

Social Script

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations

Mere Exposure effect

repeated exposure to a thing or person usually increases our liking of it

Reward theory of Attraction

argues that we develop attraction/relationships with people we have positive fulfilling interactions with

Passionate Love vs. Companionate Love

all-consuming, obsessed (strongest at beginning of relationship)
vs
a sense of attachment and the feeling of connection with the other person

Prejudice

an unjustifiable, usually negative, attitude about a group of people

Scapegoat theory

when things go wrong we find someone to blame it on

Ingroup Bias

favoring our own group, sometimes to a dangerous extent (ex nationalism)

Outgroup homogeneity/"other-race effect"

tendency to recall faces of our own race better and perceive members of other races as being more similar than they are

Stereotype

common type of erroneous belief

Discrimination

acting on an erroneous belief

Social Exchange Theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize the costs

Reciprocity norm

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

Social-responsibility norm

an expectation that people will help those needing their help

mirror-image perception

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

Superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation (ex Presidents)

GRIT

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension
Reduction: a strategy designed to decrease international tensions

Stanley Milgram

shock experiment
Will people do unethical things to bey authority?

Philip Zimbardo

Stanford Prison Experiment

Solomon Asch

line length conformity study

Social facilitation vs Social inhibition

improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others
vs
decreased performance on a task in the presence of others