Social Psych Vocab

Social Psychology

How people think/behave socially

Hindsight bias

“Knew it all along” effect

Theory

Organized explanation

Hypotheses

Testable prediction

Random sample

Equal chance selection

Sample size

# of participants

Framing

Wording effect

Correlational research

Finds relationships, no cause

Experimental research

Tests cause & effect

Random assignment

Chance-based group placement

Independent variable

Manipulated factor

Dependent variable

Measured outcome

Replication

Repeat study for reliability

Meta-analysis

Combine many studies

Mundane realism

Real-life similarity

Experimental realism

Engaging realism

Deception

Misleading participants

Demand characteristics

Cues on expected behavior

Informed consent

Participant agreement

Debriefs

Explain study afterward

Spotlight effect

Overestimating others’ attention

Illusion of transparency

Think feelings show too much

Self-concept

Who I am

Self-schemas

Mental self-frameworks

Social comparisons

Judging self vs others

Looking-glass self

Self from others’ view

Individualism

Personal goals first

Independent self

Separate, unique self

Collectivism

Group goals first

Planning fallacy

Underestimate task time

Affective forecasting

Predict emotions

Impact bias

Overestimate emotional impact

Dual-attitude system

Explicit vs implicit attitudes

Self-esteem

Self-worth

Longitudinal study

Research over time

Self-compassion

Kindness to self

Narcissism

Excessive self-focus

Self-efficacy

Belief in ability

Self-serving bias

Favorable self-view

Self-serving attributions

Success = me, failure = others

Bias blind spot

Others are more biased

Illusory optimism

Overly positive outlook

Defensive pessimism

Expect low to prepare

False consensus

Overestimate agreement

False uniqueness

Underestimate similarity of strengths

Self-handicapping

Excuses for failure

Self-presentation

Managing impressions

Self-monitoring

Adjusting behavior to fit

System 1

Fast, automatic thinking

System 2

Slow, deliberate thinking

Priming

Subconscious activation

Embodied cognition

Body ↔ mind link

Automatic thinking

Effortless thought

Controlled thinking

Conscious thought

Schemas

Mental frameworks

Overconfidence

Overestimate accuracy

Dunning-Kruger effect

Incompetent overrate ability

Confirmation bias

Seek confirming info

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts

Representativeness

Judge by prototype

Availability

Judge by ease of recall

Counterfactual thinking

“What if” thinking

Illusory correlation

False link

Regression to average

Extremes return to norm

Belief perseverance

Stick to beliefs

Misinformation effect

Memory distortion caused by misleading information

Rosy retrospection

Past remembered better

Attribution theory

Explaining causes of behavior

Dispositional attribution

Traits cause behavior

Situational attribution

Context causes behavior

Spontaneous trait inference

Instantly assign traits

Fundamental attribution error

Overrate traits, underrate situation

Situational awareness

Understand surroundings

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Belief → outcome

Behavioral confirmation

Expectations shape behavior

Attitude

Beliefs/feelings toward something

Behavior

Observable action

Principle of aggregation

Attitudes predict average behavior

Role

Expected position behavior

Attitudes-follow-behavior

Actions shape attitudes

Self-presentation theory

Adjust for consistency

Cognitive dissonance

Discomfort from inconsistency

Selective exposure

Seek supporting info

Insufficient justification

Weak reason changes belief

Self-perception theory

Infer attitudes from behavior

Facial feedback effect

Expression shapes emotion

Overjustification effect

Rewards reduce interest

Intrinsic motivation

Internal drive

Extrinsic motivation

External rewards

Self-affirmation theory

Rebuild self-image via values

Natural selection

Survival traits passed on

Evolutionary psychology

Evolution shapes mind/behavior

Sex

Biological differences

Gender

Social identity/roles

Transgender

Gender ≠ birth sex

Cisgender

Gender = birth sex

Testosterone

Male sex hormone

Androgynous

Both male & female traits

Culture

Shared beliefs/norms

Norms

Expected behavior