Social Psychology - chap 12

Social psychology

Study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Attribution theory

How we explain people's behavior.

Dispositional attribution

Explaining behavior through someone's personality or traits.

Situational attribution

Explaining behavior through circumstances.

Fundamental attribution error

Overestimating personality and underestimating situations when judging others.

Actor-observer bias

Explaining our own behavior through situations but others' behavior through personality.

Self-serving bias

Attributing successes to ourselves and failures to outside factors.

Attitude

Feelings and beliefs that influence behavior.

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Agreeing to a small request makes someone more likely to agree to a larger request.

Role

Expected behavior associated with a particular social position.

Conformity

Adjusting behavior or thinking to match a group.

Normative social influence

Conforming to gain approval or avoid rejection.

Informational social influence

Conforming because we believe others know more than we do.

Obedience

Following orders from an authority figure.

Social facilitation

Improved performance on easy or well-learned tasks when others are watching.

Social loafing

Putting in less effort when working in a group.

Deindividuation

Losing self-awareness and restraint in a group.

Group polarization

Group discussion strengthens the group's existing opinions.

Groupthink

Desire for group agreement prevents critical thinking.

Norms

Expected standards of behavior within a group.

Prejudice

Unjustified negative attitude toward a group.

Stereotype

Generalized belief about a group.

Discrimination

Unjustified negative behavior toward a group.

Ingroup

Group you belong to.

Outgroup

Group you do not belong to.

Ingroup bias

Favoring members of your own group.

Scapegoat theory

Blaming a group for problems or frustrations.

Just-world phenomenon

Belief that people generally get what they deserve.

Aggression

Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm.

Frustration-aggression principle

Frustration can increase the likelihood of aggression.

Social traps

Situations where individual self-interest creates negative outcomes for everyone.

Social cognition

Mental processes used to make sense of the social world.

Three components of attitudes

Cognition (thoughts), affect (feelings), and behavior (actions).

Why do attitudes imperfectly predict behavior?

External situations and other factors also influence behavior.

Mere exposure effect

Repeated exposure to something can make us more likely to like it.

Persuasion

An attempt to change someone's attitude through arguments or explanations.

Elements of persuasion

Source, message, and target audience.

Central route to persuasion

Being persuaded by the actual content of a message.

Peripheral route to persuasion

Being persuaded by surface features, such as appearance or message length.

Cognitive dissonance

Discomfort when thoughts and behaviors do not match.

How can cognitive dissonance be reduced?

Change behavior, change an attitude, or create a new attitude to justify behavior.

Justifying effort

Valuing something more after putting significant effort into it.

Attribution

The process of explaining one's own or others' behavior.

Social influence

The real or implied presence of other people affecting behavior.

Asch's conformity study

Participants agreed with an incorrect group opinion about one-third of the time.

Milgram's obedience study

Examined how far people would follow an authority figure's instructions.

Diffusion of responsibility

Feeling less personally responsible when other people are present.

Social role

A pattern of behavior expected from someone in a particular social position.

Stanford Prison Experiment

Showed how assigned social roles can influence people's behavior.

Groupthink

The desire for group harmony overrides realistic evaluation of alternatives.

Ingroup/outgroup bias

Favoring one's own group while viewing outside groups less favorably.

Other-race effect

Recognizing faces from one's own racial group more accurately than other-race faces.

Realistic conflict theory

Competition between groups over limited resources can create prejudice.

Biological influences on aggression

Genetics, the frontal lobe, amygdala, and serotonin levels.

Learning influences on aggression

Social learning, social roles, and exposure to media violence.

Bystander effect

People are less likely to help when others are present.

Steps in responding to an emergency

Notice the incident, interpret it as an emergency, and assume responsibility for helping.

Altruism

Helping others without expecting a personal reward.