Chapter 17: Social Processes, Society, and Culture

group polarization

when groups show a tendency to make decisions that are more extreme than the decisions that would be made by members acting alone

groupthink

the tendency of a decision-making group to filter out undesirable input so that a consensus may be reached

diffusion of responsibility

when more than one person can help in a situation, people often assume that someone else will or should help, so they don’t get help

frustration-aggression hypothesis

frustration occurs in situations in which people are prevented or blocked from attaining their goals and a rise in frustration leads to a greater possibility of aggression