AP Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

Dispositional attribution

Explaining someone's behavior as caused by their internal characteristics or personality rather than the situation.

Situational attribution

Explaining someone's behavior as caused by external circumstances or the environment rather than their personality.

Explanatory style

A person's habitual way of explaining events as either internal or external, stable or unstable, and global or specific.

Self-serving bias

The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors to protect self-esteem.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overestimate the role of personality and underestimate the role of situational factors when explaining others' behavior.

Actor-observer bias

The tendency to attribute your own behavior to situational factors while attributing others' behavior to dispositional factors.

Locus of control

A person's belief about whether outcomes are controlled by internal factors such as effort or external factors such as luck or fate.

Mere exposure effect

The tendency to develop a more positive attitude toward a stimulus simply through repeated exposure to it.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A belief or expectation that influences behavior in a way that causes the belief to come true.

Social comparison theory

Festinger's theory that people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others.

Relative deprivation

The feeling of discontent that arises from comparing oneself to others who are perceived as better off.

Societies

Large groups of people who share a common culture, territory, and set of norms and institutions.

Culture

The shared beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that characterize a group or society.

In-group

A social group to which a person belongs and with which they identify.

Out-group

A social group to which a person does not belong and toward which they may feel less positive.

Stereotypes

Overgeneralized beliefs about the characteristics of members of a particular group.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward members of a group based on their group membership rather than individual characteristics.

Discrimination

Unfair treatment of individuals based on their membership in a particular group.

Implicit bias

Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect behavior and decisions without the person's awareness.

Out-group homogeneity bias

The tendency to see members of out-groups as more similar to each other than members of one's own in-group.

In-group bias (ethnocentrism)

The tendency to favor and evaluate one's own group more positively than out-groups.

Just-world phenomenon

The belief that the world is fair and that people get what they deserve, which can lead to blaming victims.

Belief perseverance (confirmation bias)

The tendency to maintain existing beliefs even when contradictory evidence is presented.

Cognitive dissonance

The discomfort felt when a person holds two conflicting beliefs or when behavior conflicts with beliefs, motivating change.

Social norms

Shared rules or expectations about how members of a group should behave in particular situations.

Social influence theory

The study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are affected by others.

Normative

Conforming to group norms to gain acceptance or avoid rejection even when you privately disagree.

Informational

Conforming to group norms because you believe the group has accurate information about what is correct.

Persuasion

The process of changing attitudes or beliefs through communication and argument.

Halo effect

The tendency for a positive impression of a person in one area to influence opinions in other unrelated areas.

Elaboration likelihood model

A theory of persuasion proposing two routes: the central route involving careful analysis and the peripheral route involving superficial cues.

Central route

A path to persuasion that involves careful consideration of the message content and arguments.

Peripheral route

A path to persuasion that relies on superficial cues such as attractiveness or expertise rather than message content.

Foot-in-the-door

A persuasion technique in which a small initial request is made to increase compliance with a larger subsequent request.

Door-in-the-face

A persuasion technique in which a large request is made first and then refused, increasing compliance with a smaller follow-up request.

Conformity

Adjusting one's behavior or beliefs to match those of a group, as studied by Asch.

Obedience

Compliance with commands or instructions from an authority figure, as studied by Milgram.

Collectivist culture

A culture that emphasizes group goals, interdependence, and social harmony over individual achievement.

Individualist culture

A culture that emphasizes personal goals, independence, and individual rights over group needs.

Multiculturalism

The coexistence and mutual respect of multiple cultural groups within a society.

Social facilitation

The tendency for people to perform better on simple or well-learned tasks when in the presence of others.

Social loafing

The tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

Group polarization

The tendency for group discussion to strengthen the dominant opinion in the group toward a more extreme position.

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and individual accountability that can occur in group situations, sometimes leading to antisocial behavior.

Peer pressure

Social influence from peers that encourages conformity to group norms or behaviors.

Altruism

Selfless concern for the wellbeing of others, motivating helping behavior without expectation of personal gain.

Helping behavior

Actions that benefit others, influenced by factors such as bystander effect and situational context.

Bystander effect

The tendency for individuals to be less likely to help in an emergency when others are present.

Diffusion of responsibility

The reduced sense of personal responsibility to act when others are present, contributing to the bystander effect.

False consensus

The tendency to overestimate how widely one's own opinions, beliefs, and behaviors are shared by others.

Social traps

Situations in which individually rational decisions lead to collectively harmful outcomes for the group.

Superordinate goal

A shared goal that requires cooperation between groups and can reduce intergroup conflict.

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction (GRIT)

A conflict resolution strategy involving one party making a small concession to encourage reciprocal de-escalation from the other side.

Groupthink

The tendency for highly cohesive groups to prioritize consensus and harmony over critical thinking, leading to poor decisions.

Mindguard

A group member who protects the group from dissenting information or opinions to preserve groupthink.

I/O psychologists

Industrial-organizational psychologists who apply psychological principles to workplace settings including employee motivation and productivity.

Burnout

A state of emotional physical and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged exposure to demanding situations, especially in work settings.

Psychodynamic

Relating to Freud's approach to psychology emphasizing unconscious forces, early childhood experiences, and internal conflicts.

Free association

A psychoanalytic technique in which the patient says whatever comes to mind to reveal unconscious thoughts and conflicts.

Id

Freud's term for the primitive unconscious part of personality that operates on the pleasure principle seeking immediate gratification.

Pleasure principle

The id's drive to seek immediate gratification of desires and avoid discomfort regardless of reality.

Superego

Freud's term for the part of personality that represents internalized moral standards and ideals, acting as a conscience.

Ego

Freud's term for the rational part of personality that mediates between the id and superego using the reality principle.

Reality principle

The ego's strategy of satisfying the id's desires in realistic and socially acceptable ways.

Repression

A defense mechanism in which anxiety-producing thoughts or memories are unconsciously pushed out of conscious awareness.

Displacement

A defense mechanism in which emotions are redirected from the original threatening target to a safer substitute.

Reaction formation

A defense mechanism in which unacceptable impulses are transformed into their opposite in conscious behavior.

Compensation

A defense mechanism in which a person overcomes feelings of weakness in one area by excelling in another.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism in which logical-sounding justifications are created for unacceptable behaviors or feelings.

Regression

A defense mechanism in which a person reverts to behaviors from an earlier stage of development when stressed.

Denial

A defense mechanism in which a person refuses to acknowledge an anxiety-producing reality.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism in which unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable activities.

Projection

A defense mechanism in which a person attributes their own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to others.

Self-actualization

Maslow's term for the highest level of the hierarchy of needs representing the realization of one's full potential.

Self-concept

A person's overall perception and evaluation of themselves including beliefs about their abilities and characteristics.

Incongruence

Rogers' term for the gap between a person's self-concept and their actual experience, leading to psychological distress.

Conditions of worth

Rogers' term for the standards a person believes they must meet to receive love and acceptance from others.

Unconditional positive regard

Rogers' term for accepting and valuing a person completely without conditions, which promotes psychological growth.

Self-efficacy

Bandura's term for a person's belief in their own ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish tasks.

Big Five

The five broad dimensions of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability.

Openness

A Big Five personality trait reflecting curiosity, creativity, and willingness to explore new experiences.

Conscientiousness

A Big Five personality trait reflecting organization, dependability, and goal-directed behavior.

Extraversion

A Big Five personality trait reflecting sociability, assertiveness, and positive emotionality.

Agreeableness

A Big Five personality trait reflecting cooperativeness, trust, and concern for others.

Emotional stability

A Big Five personality trait reflecting calmness and resilience; the opposite end is neuroticism characterized by anxiety and moodiness.

Nomothetic analysis

An approach to personality that identifies general laws and traits that apply across all people.

Idiographic analysis

An approach to personality that focuses on the unique characteristics of a specific individual.

Cardinal traits

Allport's term for a single dominant trait that shapes almost all of a person's behavior.

Central traits

Allport's term for the handful of major traits that define a person's general personality tendencies.

Secondary traits

Allport's term for less consistent traits that appear only in specific situations or contexts.

Source traits

Cattell's term for the underlying traits that influence a cluster of surface behaviors.

Surface traits

Cattell's term for observable personality characteristics that cluster together and reflect underlying source traits.

Projective tests

Personality assessments that present ambiguous stimuli and ask for interpretations, theoretically revealing unconscious thoughts.

Inventory-type tests

Standardized self-report questionnaires that measure personality traits through structured true/false or rating scale items.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective personality test in which a person describes what they see in a series of symmetrical inkblots.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective personality test in which a person creates stories about ambiguous pictures, theoretically revealing unconscious motives.

Evolutionary theory

The explanation of motivation as driven by behaviors that enhanced survival and reproduction in ancestral environments.

Primary drives

Innate biological motivations such as hunger thirst and the need for sleep that are essential for survival.

Secondary drive

A learned motivation that develops through association with primary drives such as the desire for money or approval.

Arousal theory

The theory that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of stimulation and arousal.