Social Psychology Reading: Ch 14

Social Psychology

A broad field devoted to studying the way people relate to each other.

Social Cognition

The study of memory and biases that help explain how people think about themselves and others.

Attitude

A set of beliefs and feelings.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon where increased exposure to something leads to increased liking.

Central Route of Persuasion

Deeply processing the content of a message.

Peripheral Route of Persuasion

Involves other aspects of the message, including the characteristics of the person imparting it.

What Study Shows The Relationship Between Attitudes and Behavior

Richard LaPiere shows a discrepancy between attitudes and actual behavior towards Asians.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The idea that people are motivated to maintain consistent attitudes and behaviors, leading to mental tension when they do not.

Foot-In-The-Door Policy

The strategy of getting someone to agree to a small request to increase the likelihood of agreeing to a larger request later.

Door-In-The-Face Strategy

The approach where a large request is followed by a smaller request, which is more likely to be accepted.

Norms of Reciprocity

The tendency to feel obligated to return a favor.

Attribution Theory

Explains how people determine the causes of observed behaviors.

Person-stable Attribution

Believing that someone always behaves in a certain way.

Person-unstable Attribution

Believing that someone does not usually behave in a certain way.

Consistency

How similarly individuals act in the same situation over time.

Distinctiveness

How similar a situation is to other situations.

Consensus

Considering how others in the same situation have responded.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Preconceived ideas about others that influence their behavior.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors in others' behaviors.

Individualistic Cultures

Cultures that stress the importance and uniqueness of the individual.

Collectivist Cultures

Cultures that emphasize a person's link to various groups.

False-Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the number of people who agree with one's views.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to take more credit for good outcomes than for bad ones.

Just-World Bias

The belief that bad things happen to bad people.

Stereotypes

Ideas held about members of different groups that influence interactions.

Prejudice

An undeserved, usually negative attitude toward a group of people.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's culture is superior to others.

Discrimination

The combination of prejudice and action against a group.

In-Group

Members of one's own group.

Out-Group

Members of other groups.

Contact Theory

The idea that contact between hostile groups can reduce animosity if they work toward a common goal.

Instrumental Aggression

Aggression intended to secure a particular end.

Hostile Aggression

Aggression with no clear purpose.

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

The idea that frustration increases the likelihood of aggression.

Prosocial Behavior

Factors that make people more likely to help one another.

Bystander Intervention

Conditions under which people are more or less likely to help someone in trouble.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon where the presence of more witnesses decreases the likelihood of intervention.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The reduction of personal responsibility to act when in a group.

Pluralistic Ignorance

The tendency to look to others to determine appropriate behavior in a situation.

Similarity

The attraction to people who are similar to oneself.

Proximity

The physical nearness to others.

Reciprocal Liking

The mutual liking that fosters relationship growth.

Self-Disclosure

Sharing personal information to foster intimacy in relationships.

Social Facilitation

The tendency to perform better in front of an audience.

Social Impairment

The decline in performance on difficult tasks when being watched.

Conformity

The tendency to align with the views or actions of others.

Obedience Studies

Research by Stanley Milgram on how far participants would go to follow orders.

Social Loafing

The phenomenon where individuals exert less effort in a group than when alone.

Group Polarization

The tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions than individuals would.

Groupthink

The tendency for groups to make poor decisions due to suppressed reservations.

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness in groups, leading to behavior one would not typically engage in.