Ch. 16 Social Thinking and Social Influence

A collection of vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms and concepts from Chapter 16 on Social Thinking and Social Influence.

Social Psychology

The study of how individuals think and behave in social situations.

Culture

An ongoing pattern of life, characterizing a society at a particular point in history.

Social Role

Expected behavior patterns associated with particular social positions.

Role Conflict

Trying to occupy two or more roles that make conflicting demands on behavior.

Group Structure

The network of roles, communication pathways, and power in a group.

Group Cohesiveness

The degree of attraction among group members or their commitment to remaining in the group.

In-group

A group with which a person identifies.

Out-group

A group with which a person does not identify.

Social Status

The degree of prestige, admiration and respect accorded to a member of a group.

Social Power

The degree to which a group member can control, alter or influence the behavior of another group member.

Norms

A widely accepted (but often unspoken) standard of conduct and appropriate behavior.

Social Cognition

The process of thinking about ourselves and others in a social context.

Social Comparison

Making judgments about ourselves through comparison with others.

Downward Comparison

Comparing yourself with a person who ranks lower than you on some dimension.

Upward Comparison

Comparing yourself with a person who ranks higher than you on some dimension.

Attribution

The act of assigning a cause to a behavior.

Internal Attributions

Causally interprets a person's behavior as being due to something within that person.

External Attributions

Causes of a person's behavior that lie outside the person.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to attribute behavior of others to internal causes while ignoring situational influences.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute our own behavior to external causes while attributing others' behaviors to internal causes.

Attitude

A positive, neutral, or negative judgment about persons, objects, events, or issues.

Open-ended Interview

An interview in which persons are allowed to freely state their views.

Social Distance Scale

A rating of the degree to which a person would be willing to have contact with a member of another group.

Self-handicapping

Arranging to perform under conditions that usually impair performance, providing an excuse for poor performance.

Cognitive Dissonance

An unpleasant internal state caused by a conflict between an attitude and a behavior or an attitude and external reality.

Social Influence

Changes in a person’s behavior caused by the presence or actions of others.

Social Facilitation

Tendency to perform better while in the presence of others.

Social Loafing

Exerting less effort when performing a specific task within a group.

Conformity

Matching our behavior and appearance to perceived norms.

Groupthink

A situation in which group members prioritize consensus over the consideration of alternative viewpoints.