Social Psychology 1

Social psychology

the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context

Attributions

assigning causes to explain others behaviors

dispositional attribution

explanations based on persons disposition

situational attribution

explanations based on current situation

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition when evaluating others

self serving bias

we tend to use dispositional attributions to explain our wins and situational attributions to explain our losses

self-serving prophecy

first impressions (based on attributions) affect observers behaviors, and as a result, the first impression comes true

aptitudes

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs that predispose us to respond to objects, people, and events in a particular way

Consistency Principle

people like their attitudes and behaviors to be consistent with one another

cognitive dissonance

state of tension that occurs when your attributes are inconsistent with your actions

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

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

social contagion

adjusting behavior or thinking to go along with a group standard (no direct behavior)

Asch Experiment

experimented how people would rather conform than state their own individual answer even though they know the group's answer is wrong

obediance

changing one's behavior at the command of an authority figure

milgrams experiment

The study to see if people were likely to obey an authority figure in a white lab coat claiming to be a scientist. The "teachers" gave an electric shock to "learners" when they have a wrong answer.

home team advantage

When others observe us, we perform well-learned tasks more quickly and accurately.

But on new and difficult tasks, performance is less quick and accurate.

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

antidotes

a specific behavior, practice, or mindset that actively counteracts a negative emotional state or cognitive pattern

deindividualization

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

group polarization

discussions with like minded others cause initial attributes to become more extreme