Final exam social psych

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Ostracism

Intentional exclusion or ignoring of an individual.

Proximity

Geographical nearness that functionally predicts liking and friendship formation.

Interaction

The opportunity for people to communicate and have their paths cross, which increases the likelihood of attraction.

Mere exposure effect

The tendency for novel stimuli to be liked more or rated more positively after repeated exposure to them.

Physical attractiveness

The degree to which a person's physical features are considered pleasing or beautiful, which strongly influences initial attraction.

Matching phenomenon

The tendency for men and women to choose partners who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness and other traits.

Beautiful is good

The presumption that physically attractive people possess other socially desirable traits, such as intelligence or kindness.

Attraction and evolution

The view that attraction is guided by evolutionary mechanisms, suggesting men and women are attracted to traits that maximize reproductive success.

Similarity vs. complementarity

The finding that people are generally more attracted to those who share similar attitudes and values (similarity), rather than those whose traits complete or fill in the gaps of their own (complementarity).

Attribution

The process by which people explain others' behavior and their own, which plays a role in relationship satisfaction.

Reward theory of attraction

The theory that we like those whose behavior is rewarding to us, or those we associate with positive experiences.

Passionate love

A state of intense absorption, with a preoccupation with the partner, intense arousal, and usually a wild roller coaster of emotions.

Two-factor theory of emotion

The theory that emotion is the result of physical arousal plus a cognitive label; in love, arousal from any source can be interpreted as passion.

Variations in love: Culture and Gender

The observation that cultural and gender differences exist in the value placed on passionate versus companionate love and the display of love

Companionate love

The affection we feel for those with whom our lives are deeply intertwined; characterized by deep affection, trust, and commitment.

Secure attachment

An attachment style rooted in trust and marked by intimacy and a lack of anxiety over abandonment.

Avoidant attachment

An attachment style marked by discomfort with closeness and a desire to maintain distance from others.

Anxious attachment

An attachment style marked by anxiety and ambivalence, characterized by a feeling of yearning for closeness but fearing rejection.

Equity

A condition in which the outcomes people receive from a relationship are proportional to what they contribute to it.

Self-disclosure

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

Disclosure reciprocity

The tendency for one person's self-disclosure to match the depth and breadth of a partner's self-disclosure.

Divorce

The legal dissolution of a marriage, a common outcome of relationship distress.

Detachment process

The steps or phases people go through when a relationship breaks down and they emotionally separate from their partner.

Altruism

A motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard for one's self-interest.

Social-exchange theory

The theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one's rewards and minimize one's costs.

Guilt

A negative emotional state that people seek to avoid or reduce, often by engaging in prosocial behavior.

Reciprocity norm

An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Social capital

The mutual support and cooperation enabled by a social network.

Social-responsibility norm

An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.

Gender and receiving help

The observation that women, on average, are more likely to seek and receive help than men are.

Kin selection

The idea that altruism toward one's close relatives is favored by natural selection because it increases the survival of shared genes.

Reciprocity

The giving and taking of help or favors in social interactions.

Group selection

The concept that groups with altruistic members are more likely to survive and reproduce than groups whose members are selfish.

Empathy

The vicarious experience of another's feeling; putting oneself in another's shoes.

Bystander effect

The finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders present.

Assuming responsibility

The step in the bystander intervention process where a person recognizes they have the duty to help, overcoming the diffusion of responsibility.

Moral exclusion

The perception of certain individuals or groups as outside the boundary within which moral rules and fairness apply.

Prisoner’s dilemma

A conflict scenario where two parties, acting in their own self-interest, fail to produce the optimal outcome, demonstrating a social trap.

Tragedy of the commons

A social dilemma in which individuals act independently and rationally according to their own self-interest, but ultimately deplete a shared limited resource.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences upon others' behavior.

Non-zero sum games

Games in which the two sides’ outcomes don't have to add up to zero; both sides can win or both can lose (e.g., the Prisoner's Dilemma).

Competition

Rivalry between two or more parties for resources or goals, a common source of conflict.

Perceived injustice

A sense that one's outcomes are not fair or equitable relative to one's inputs or relative to the outcomes of others.

Misperception

Inaccurate beliefs about another party's goals or intentions, which often fuels conflict.

Mirror-image perceptions

Reciprocal views of each other often held by parties in conflict (e.g., each side sees itself as moral and peaceful and the other as evil and aggressive).

Equal status contact

Contact on an equal basis between opposing groups; helps reduce conflict and prejudice.

Cooperation

Working together to achieve a shared goal.

Superordinate goals

Shared goals that necessitate cooperative effort and require people to pool their efforts and resources to achieve.

Bargain

Seeking an agreement through direct negotiation between parties.

Mediate

An attempt by a neutral third party to facilitate communication and offer suggestions for agreement.

Arbitrate

Resolution of a conflict by a neutral third party who studies both sides and imposes a settlement.

Integrative agreement

A win-win agreement that reconciles both parties’ interests to their mutual benefit.

Conciliation

A strategy intended to promote peace by one side making a small, de-escalating, cooperative move.

GRIT (Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension Reduction)

A strategy designed to de-escalate international tensions by initiating small, verifiable, conciliatory acts.

Clinical psychology

The study, assessment, and treatment of people with psychological difficulties.

Illusory correlations

The perception of a relationship where none exists, or the perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists.

Self-confirming diagnoses

The tendency for people to elicit and recall information that confirms their existing diagnostic expectations (e.g., a clinician asks questions that confirm their initial hunch).

Clinical intuition

The subjective, non-statistical judgment or gut feeling used by clinicians in diagnosis and treatment.

Statistical prediction

Formal, objective, and quantitative judgment often made using clinical data, which is generally more reliable than clinical intuition.

Depression

A mood disorder marked by feelings of sadness, worthlessness, and loss of interest; often linked to a negative explanatory style in social psychology.

Depressive realism

The tendency of mildly depressed people to make accurate rather than self-serving judgments, sometimes called the "sadder-but-wiser" effect.

Explanatory style

One's habit of explaining life events; a negative explanatory style (attributing bad events to stable, global, internal causes) is linked to depression.

Loneliness

A painful awareness that one's social relationships are less numerous or meaningful than one desires.

Anxiety

A state of apprehension and worry, often linked to self-presentation in social psychology.

Shyness

Social anxiety marked by self-consciousness and worry about how others perceive one.

Self-presentation theory

The idea that we want to present a positive image to both an external and internal audience; anxiety is caused by our motivation to look good and our concern that we might not.

Behavioral medicine

An interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.

Health psychology

The study of psychological factors that affect physical health.

Eyewitness testimony

An account given by a person of an event they have witnessed, often used in court, but known to be fallible.

Change blindness

The failure to notice obvious changes in an environment.

Misinformation effect

The incorporation of misleading information into one's memory of an event.

Imagination inflation

The finding that simply imagining an event can increase the confidence that the event actually happened.

False confessions

Confessions to a crime that the person did not commit; can be compliant or internalized.

Compliant confessions

False confessions made to escape a bad situation (e.g., intense interrogation) or gain a reward (e.g., going home).

Internalized confessions

False confessions that result from genuinely believing one committed the crime, sometimes due to suggestive interrogation techniques.

Retelling

The act of recounting an event, which can help solidify memory but can also bias it by highlighting certain facts and suppressing others.

Post-identification feedback effect

The finding that an eyewitness's confidence in their identification can be inflated by positive feedback from an investigator.

Sequential lineup

A procedure where police show eyewitnesses suspects one at a time, which generally leads to fewer false identifications than simultaneous lineups.

Physical attractiveness stereotype

The tendency for jurors to be less likely to convict or give lighter sentences to attractive defendants.

Reactance

A motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom; arises when someone threatens one's freedom of action (e.g., jurors reacting negatively to overzealous judges).

Juror comprehension

The ability of jurors to understand the legal instructions and evidence presented in a trial.

Minority influence

The process by which a numerical minority can persuade the majority to adopt their position.

Group polarization

The tendency for a group's average decision to be more extreme than the initial average of its members.

Leniency

The tendency in jury deliberation for the initial majority favoring acquittal to be more influential than an initial majority favoring conviction.

Displacement and trauma

The psychological effects of being forced to relocate due to environmental factors, such as climate-related disasters.

Climate and conflict

The study of how climate change and environmental scarcity can exacerbate existing social and political conflicts.

Misinformation

False or inaccurate information, often spread through social media, that can influence public opinion on issues like climate change.

Motivated reasoning

The use of reasoning to arrive at a conclusion that is consistent with one's pre-existing beliefs, often seen in debates about environmental policies.

New technologies

Tools and innovations (e.g., smart grids, energy-efficient vehicles) that social psychology can help promote for sustainable behavior.

Reducing consumption

Encouraging behaviors that decrease the use of goods and resources to promote sustainability.

Increased materialism

The growing importance placed on acquiring material possessions, often linked to reduced happiness and environmental impact.

Adaptation-level phenomenon

The tendency to judge stimuli relative to those we have previously experienced; explains why satisfaction quickly wanes after acquiring new possessions.

Social comparison

Evaluating one's possessions or status by comparing oneself with others.

Upward comparison

Comparing oneself to those who are better off, which can decrease satisfaction.

Downward comparison

Comparing oneself to those who are worse off, which can boost self-esteem and satisfaction.

Income inequality

The extent to which income is distributed unevenly among a population, which can increase social comparison and materialism.

Festinger, Schachter, and Back (1950) - Friendship formation in housing project

Researchers studied friendship patterns in an apartment complex where the physical arrangement (distance and functional distance) determined how often residents interacted, demonstrating that Proximity/Functional Distance predicts liking and friendship formation.

Back, Schmuckle, and Egloff (2008) → Faur and Laursen replication (2022) - Becoming friends by chance

These studies, including a modern replication, show that friendships and liking often emerge unexpectedly simply because paths cross (chance interaction), further supporting the power of Proximity and the Mere Exposure Effect in attraction.

Bridge study (Dutton & Aron, 1974) → Han, Gao, Xing, et al. replication (2023)

Male participants encountered an attractive female on either a shaky, high bridge (high arousal) or a safe, low bridge (low arousal), demonstrating the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion as high arousal from fear was misattributed as passionate attraction toward the interviewer.

Bystander Intervention (Latane and Darley, 1969/1970) - Smoke study, crash study, and theft study

Across various scenarios (like a smoke-filled room or a theft simulation), participants were less likely to offer aid when others were present, illustrating the Bystander Effect, which is caused by Diffusion of Responsibility and Pluralistic Ignorance.