Social Psychology Study Guide

Attribution Theory

how people interpret and understand behaviors and events by attributing them to certain factors

Ex. Doing well on a test is attributed to studying

External attribution

interpreting an event or behavior as caused by the situation or circumstances surrounding it. 

Dispositional attribution/ internal attribution

tendency to explain someone's behavior by focusing on their inherent traits, personality, or beliefs. 

Ex. “she failed the test b/c shes lazy”

fundamental attribution error

a cognitive bias where observers attribute the actions of others to their personality or character, rather than recognizing the influence of the situation or circumstances. 

Actor-observer bias

cognitive bias where individuals explain their own behavior differently than they explain the behavior of others, even when observing the same actions. 

Self-serving bias

cognitive bias where individuals tend to take credit for successes while denying responsibility for failures. 

Concept/Schema

a cognitive structure that helps us organize and interpret information, based on past experiences. 

Attitude

a learned predisposition to respond in a favorable or unfavorable way to a particular person, object, or situation. 

Explicit attitude

attitudes that individuals are aware of and can consciously report. 

implicit attitude

attitudes that operate outside of conscious awareness and control

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

psychological discomfort or tension that arises when an individual holds conflicting beliefs, values, or behaviors. 

Debrief (research method)

informing participants about the study's purpose, procedures, and any deception used, ensuring they understand the research and its implications after participation. 

Meta analysis (research method)

a study of past studies on a subject that can give researchers a “big picture” view of the topic.

Central route to persuasion

Uses facts, data and statistics to back up reasonable arguments

Peripheral role to persuasion

Arguments that don’t involve facts and data but instead rely on emotional pulls, endorsements and attractivness of speaker

Door in the face approach

making a large, likely to be rejected request, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request

Foot in the door approach

mall request is made first to pave the way for a larger request. 

Role playing- Zimbardos study

In Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, participants quickly adopted assigned roles (guards or prisoners), exhibiting behaviors that were largely situational and not reflective of their pre-existing personalities, demonstrating the powerful influence of social roles on behavior

Conformity- Aschs study

a series of experiments in the 1950s to investigate the extent to which individuals would conform to group pressure, even when the group's judgment was clearly incorrect. 

Informational social influence

occurs when people conform because they perceive others as having more knowledge or expertise, and they want to be right or to understand how to behave in a situation

Normative social influence

leads to conformity, where individuals change their behavior or opinions to fit in with a group, even if they privately disagree. 

Deindividuation

individuals, within a group setting, experience a diminished sense of personal identity and accountability, leading to a reduction in self-awareness and self-restraint. 

Group polarization

a group's prevailing inclinations are amplified or intensified through discussion within the group. 

Group think

occurs when the desire for harmony or conformity in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. 

Obedience-Milgrams study

investigate the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure, even when the instructions conflicted with their personal beliefs. '

a significant portion of participants, even when instructed to administer potentially harmful electric shocks, obeyed an authority figure, demonstrating a strong tendency for individuals to comply with orders, even when those orders conflict with their personal conscience. 

social facilitation

the presence of others enhances an individual's performance on a task

Social inhibition/impariment

conscious or subconscious restraint of expressing feelings, attitudes, and behaviors in social situations because of the belief that others might disapprove. 

Social Loafing

individuals put in less effort when working towards a common goal as part of a group compared to when they are working individually. 

Approach-Approach

a type of conflict where an individual is faced with two or more desirable options, and they must choose between them. 

Approach-avoidance

conflict occurs when a person is faced with a situation where a single goal or option has both positive (approach) and negative (avoidance) consequences. 

avoidance-avoidance

a person is forced to choose between two options that are both undesirable or unpleasant. 

Prisoners Dilema

a classic game theory scenario illustrating how individual self-interest can lead to outcomes that are worse for everyone involved, despite potential for mutual benefit through cooperation. 

Scenerio: Two suspects are arrested for a crime and interrogated separately. They are given the option to either cooperate (remain silent) or defect (betray the other suspect). 

Reciprocity norm

a fundamental social norm that suggests people should respond to each other's actions, particularly positive ones, with similar actions. 

social traps

a dilemma where actions that seem beneficial in the short term lead to negative or even disastrous outcomes for the group or society as a whole. 

social responsibility norm

a societal belief or expectation that individuals have a duty to assist others who are in need, regardless of any personal gain or expectation of reciprocation

Superordinate goal

a common objective that necessitates joint effort and cooperation from different groups to attain, surpassing individual or group-specific goals. 

GRIT

a combination of passion and perseverance, meaning individuals with grit are not only driven by a strong desire to achieve a goal but also possess the tenacity to keep working towards it even when facing difficulties. 

Altruism

behavior where individuals act to benefit others, even if it means incurring personal costs or risks

Bystander effect

describes the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help someone in need when others are present, due to factors like diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance

Diffusion of responsibility

In a group setting, individuals feel less personally responsible for taking action because they assume others will step in. 

social exchange theory

the idea that social relationships are an exchange in which a participant tries to maximize benefits and minimize costs; if the costs get too high or the benefits too low, they will end the relationship

discrimination

The act of treating someone unfairly or prejudicially based on their perceived membership in a particular group

prejudice

a preconceived judgment or opinion, often negative, about a group of people based on their membership in that group, rather than on individual characteristics. 

in-group bias

social psychological phenomenon where individuals tend to favor and show preference towards members of their own social group (the in-group) compared to those who are not part of that group (the out-group). 

out-group homogeneity

individuals perceive members of other groups as being more alike than they actually are, while simultaneously viewing their own group as more diverse. 

mere-exposure effect

repeated exposure to a stimulus, whether it's a word, a face, a song, or even a geometric shape, leads to an increased liking or preference for that stimulus. 

just-world hypothesis

the tendency to believe that the world is a fair and orderly place where good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. 

Blame-the-victim mentality

the tendency to hold a victim accountable for the harm they've experienced, often as a way to cope with the injustice or to maintain a belief in a just world

Mirror image perceptions

the tendency for opposing sides in a conflict to view each other in a similar but opposite way, with each side seeing itself as moral and the other as immoral

self-fullfilling prophecy

when someone believes something will happen, and their actions, or the actions of others based on that belief, unintentionally cause that event to occur. 

Belief perseverance

cognitive bias where individuals stubbornly hold onto their initial beliefs, even when presented with strong evidence to the contrary.

confirmation bias

the tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs and to dismiss or ignore information that contradicts them, leading to biased decision-making and potentially hindering objective thinking. 

Solomon Asch

a pioneer in social and Gestalt psychology, is known for his conformity experiments, which demonstrated the power of social influence on opinions and behavior, even when the group's judgment is clearly incorrect. 

Leon Festringer

originated the theory of cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory.

Stanley Milgrim

social psychologist known for his Milgram experiment, which demonstrated the surprising extent to which people will obey authority figures, even when it means causing harm to others. 

Philip Zimbardo

known in AP Psychology for his Stanford Prison Experiment, which demonstrated the power of social situations to influence behavior, leading to the concept of the "Lucifer Effect" and the idea of conformity to social roles. 

Hedonic adaptation/treadmill

the human tendency to quickly return to a baseline level of happiness or well-being, despite experiencing significant positive or negative life events

Life satisfaction-what are the main catagories of influence

An individual's standards for evaluating their life satisfaction are heavily influenced by their cultural values, social norms, and personal characteristics.

signature strengths and virtues

wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence