psych (chapter 14)

attribution theory

attribution theory

describes how people explain their own and others' behavior.

situational attribution theory

based on context of environment, you may judge someone else’s behavior

(if you’re touring a prestigious college, you may assume everyone there is stuck-up.)

disposition attribution theory

based on someone’s attitude/reaction, you may judge someone’s behavior

(if you go talk to your college counselor and they appear with an unpleasant facial expression to your concerns, you may assume they are mean and inconsiderate always.)

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

(if you show up late to class in senior year, instead of attributing it to traffic or a genuine delay, your teacher calls you “a lazy senior who can’t do anything!”)

attitude

a belief and feeling that predisposes a person to respond in a particular way to objects, other people, and events.

(if your teacher believes you are a lazy senior, they may feel dislike towards you, and respond in an unfriendly manner.)

peripheral persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues and respond to those incidental cures

(a popular celebrity you like goes to a college you’re considering, maybe impacting your likelihood to pick that school to go to.)

central persuasion

occurs when people focus on the main/major arguments (or product), offers arguments that aim to trigger favorable thoughts

(a tour guide tells you the pros of going to a specific school to persuade you to go)

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

(a student gets into a college and tells herself they worked hard to get to that point, and that it was well deserved. the student gets rejected from another college and blames the college admissions process for being unfair.)

foot-in-the-door

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

(a student asks to go to prom with their friends, and after their parents agree, they ask to add on a dinner after the dance.)

door-in-the-face

the tendency for people who say no to a huge request to comply with a smaller one.

(a graduating student asks to go on an extensive senior trip around the world, but their parents say no, instead agreeing to a smaller-scale senior trip to la.)

reciprocity norm

we feel obliged to return favors, even those we did not want in the first place.

(a friend randomly offers to review your college essays without you asking, so you feel like you should return the favor by looking over theirs or buying them a drink or something.)

role

set of expectations about a social position; defines how those in the position are expected to behave

(your teacher expects you, as a graduating senior, to behave lazier than other students because of the expectations associated with that position (senioritis).)

cognitive dissonance

an uncomfortable state of mind arising when you recognize inconsistencies in your beliefs and/or behaviors

(realizing that you’re a hypocrite for telling others not to worry about college prestige when you yourself worry about college prestige.)

chameleon effect

mimicking the postures, mannerisms, facial expressions, and other behaviors of one's interaction partners, such that one's behavior passively and unintentionally changes to match that of others in one's current social environment.

(at the graduation ceremony, you may act similarly to those around you to match, waiting in line, looking formal, and walking up to the stage, throwing caps, etc.)

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

(a senior in line at lunch may wait patiently and line up in a single file line to match the others in the group expecting lunch.)

normative social influence

a situation where an individual conforms to the norms of a group so that they do not become an outcast

(a graduating senior may go with the others in their friend group and share their admission results for a college, as not to stand out (“you’re the only one not sharing!!”))

informational social influence

where a person conforms to gain knowledge, or because they believe that someone else is “right”

(a senior acts a certain way to enter a friend group, to gain more information about admissions statistics for a specific school.)

social facilitation

presence of other people can enhance an individual's performance on a task.

(a senior goes out for a group study session to prepare for the ap psychology exam, and finds that studying in a group improves their efficiency as opposed to studying alone.)

social impairment

presence of other people can hurt an individual's performance on a task.

(a senior goes out for a group study session to prepare for the ap psychology exam, and finds that studying a group diminishes their efficiency as opposed to studying alone.)

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

(a senior working on a group project decides to put in less work because they will not be graded individually anyways.)

deindividuation

individuals lose their self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations

(a senior at lunch with their friends gets lost in the group conversation and is unaware their speaking volume has become disruptive to others sitting in the cafeteria.)

group polarization

groups tend to make decisions that are more extreme compared to the original thoughts of individual group members

(a group of senior friends who hold a moderate opinion about liking/disliking someone will likely have a heightened belief after meeting a group setting.)

group think

members of a group will conform to majority opinion to maintain group harmony rather than stating their own opinions.

(a senior group of friends goes out to eat and agrees to eat at one restaurant despite a few wanting different options.)

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

(a graduating senior year will transmit their values, behaviors, etc, about school or the future to the next class of students at the end of the year.)

norms

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior, “proper” behavior.

(students, including seniors at srhs, are expected to follow a set of customs for behavior when at school, such as staying at an appropriate volume, not eating in the library, acting a certain way at the lunch line or at the water fountain, etc.)

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members.

(vinny vu, a graduating senior at scripps, feels dislike towards all freshmen.)

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate, overgeneralized) belief about a group

(vinny vu believes that all freshmen are snotty and immature without much personal experience.)

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

(vinny vu decides to trip only freshmen in the hallways at scripps.)

in-group

“us”, social groups with which a person identifies as being a member

(what a senior student perceives as their group, or senior class.)

out-group

“them”, those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup

(what a senior student perceives as the other group(s), such as underclassmen.)

ethnocentrism

belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group

(a french graduating senior believes that french people are superior to every other ethnicity.)

other-race effect

the chance of individuals misidentifying faces from other races more than their own race is significantly higher

(a french graduating senior has trouble identifying non-caucasian strangers at first glance as compared to those with more caucasian features.)

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.

(vinny vu believes that if he did not get into a college, he must have done something bad in the past, and therefore he believes that he deserves it.)

self-fulfilling prophecy

when a person unknowingly causes a prediction to come true, due to the simple fact that he or she expects it to come true

(vinny vu believes that he will fail an ap psychology exam, so he doesn’t study and fails.)

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

(harshini kanakala, a graduating senior, decides to insult vinny vu such that his confidence is destroyed.)

social script

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

(vinny vu, a senior exposed to media of seniors lazing around is likely to develop senioritis.)

frustration-aggression

the principle that frustration—the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal—creates anger, which can generate aggression, kind of like a cycle

(vinny vu has a tough day at school and comes home to take his aggression out because he cannot really express his frustration at school.)

mere exposure effect

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

(vinny vu is exposed to the ap psychology classroom constantly and discovers that he has begun to like the look, smell, feel, etc. of the classroom over time, leading to his liking of the class.)

similarity

the tendency to be attracted to people who share characteristics with you

(a graduating senior finds that they are more attracted to people in the same class and with similar characteristics, as opposed to an underclassmen with wildly different characteristics.)

physical attraction

the possession of outward physiological characteristics deemed to be appealing

(a graduating senior finds their crush is physically appealing because they have brown hair and blue eyes, which they like.)

passionate love

an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

(a senior starts dating someone and feels intensely happy when they are around their partner, on dates, in class, et cetera.)

companionate love

the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

(after the senior dates their partner for a while, they begin to feel deeply connected and discover they care a lot about the person being in their life.)

equity

a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give.

(a senior treats their partner with never-ending kindness, showering them with gifts and care, and receives similar treatment back from their partner.)

self-disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

(after a senior befriends someone and gradually becomes closer to them, they begin to reveal personal details such as mental health concerns and trouble with classes, etc. to them.)

altruism

prosocial behaviors that benefit other people at a cost to yourself.

(a senior admitted to a certain college decides to give up their spot to someone on the waitlist, even though keeping it might have kept their options broader.)

bystander effect

the more people who witness someone in distress, the less likely someone is to intervene

(a group of seniors sees a fight at school, and as more students file in and see it happening, the less likely one of them is to step in to stop the fight.)

pluralistic ignorance

individuals assume that their thoughts, norms, and actions are remarkably different from those of the general population when, in fact, they are the same as social norms.

(a senior assumes that their “senior privileges” change their norms from the rest of the population, when they are in fact, the same as typical social norms in a school/outside setting.)

social exchange theory

the idea that social relationships are an exchange in which a participant tries to maximize benefits and minimize costs

(a senior, upon befriending someone, aims to do the least possible in paying for hangouts and gifts, while getting as many benefits as possible, such as social interaction, sharing of class notes, etc.)

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.

(a senior decides they want to sleep in a bit in the morning and hits their alarm snooze, but this makes them late for a meeting for a group project later.)

superoordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

(a group of seniors is trying to plan a senior trip but they all have different ideas on where they want to go and what they want to do. nevertheless, they accept that they will have to reach a consensus in order to make the trip happen.)

concilation

overcoming disagreements and giving in to or appeasing another person

(a senior trying to repair a relationship with a friend decides to admit fault to the things they have been falsely accused of in an attempt to appease the other person.)

GRIT

graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension-reduction—a strategy designed to decrease international tensions.

(a group of seniors has a big fight but they decide to propose de-escalation through small actions like talking together, hanging out, apologizing, back and forth, and this eventually leads to a “peace spiral.”)