Unit 4.1-4.3 Social Psychology

Attribution Theory

the theory that we explain people's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

Dispositional Attributions

Internal Characteristics (Personal Traits) such as personality and intelligence

Situational Attributions

Environmental Factors

Explanatory Style

a psychological attribute that describes how people explain the causes and impact of events in their lives, whether positive or negative

Actor-Observer Bias

Tendency to attribute one's own actions to external causes while attributing other people's behaviors to internal causes.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency for observers, for analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of a person's disposition

Self-Serving Bias

We attribute causes of behavior to external causes if we fail & internal causes if we succeed.

Internal locus of control

Think they control and are responsible for what happens to them

External locus of control

Believe what happens is due to fate, luck, or others

Mere Exposure Effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

Social Comparison Theory

the idea that people compare themselves to others to evaluate their abilities, opinions, and attitudes, and to gain a better understanding of themselves

Relative Deprivation

is the idea that someone feels deprived or entitled to something based on a comparison to others

Cognitive Load

 the amount of information our working memory can process at any given time

Implicit attitudes

are evaluations that occur without conscious awareness towards an attitude object or the self

Just-World Phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

Out-group homogeneity effect

the perception of out-group members as more similar to one another than are in-group members

Ethnocentrism

the prejudicial belief that one’s culture is superior to all other cultures

Belief Perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Cognitive Dissonance

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.

Multiculturalism

the quality or condition of a society in which different ethnic and cultural groups have equal status and access to power but each maintains its own identity, characteristics, and mores

Group Polarization

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

Diffusion of responsibility

a phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when other bystanders or witnesses are present.

Social Loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Social Facilitation

improved performance on simple or well learned tasks in the presence of others

False Consensus Effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Superordinate Goals

shared goals that can only be achieved through cooperation

Social Trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior