Unit 4 - Social Psychology and Personality

Dispositional Attributions

Beliefs that people's behavior is caused by internal factors, such as traits or personality, rather than external influences.

Situational Atributions

Beliefs that people's behavior is influenced by external factors, such as the environment or social context.

Attribution Theory

A psychological concept that explains how individuals interpret and assign causes to behavior, distinguishing between dispositional and situational influences.

Self-serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one’s successes to internal factors while blaming failures on external factors, protecting self-esteem.

Actor - Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own actions to situational factors while attributing others' actions to their character or personality.

Fundamental Attribution Error

A cognitive bias that occurs when people overemphasize dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors in explaining others' behavior.

Explanatory Style

Refers to the way individuals explain the causes of events, which can impact their emotions and behavior. It often includes a focus on internal vs. external, stable vs. unstable, and global vs. specific attributions.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

A way of explaining events that focuses on positive outcomes, emphasizing internal, stable, and global attributions for successes while viewing failures as external, unstable, and specific.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

A way of explaining events that focuses on negative outcomes, emphasizing internal, stable, and global attributions for failures while viewing successes as external, unstable, and specific.

Locus of Control

The degree to which individuals believe they have control over the outcomes of events in their lives, distinguishing between internal (control through own efforts) and external (control by outside factors) locus of control.

External Locus of Coontro

The belief that outcomes are primarily influenced by external factors beyond one's control, such as fate, luck, or other people's actions.

Internal Locus of Control

The belief that outcomes are primarily influenced by one's own efforts and decisions, leading to a sense of personal responsibility and control over life events.

Person Perception

The process through which we form impressions of others, evaluating their traits and behaviors based on our observations and experiences.

Mere Exposure Effect

The psychological phenomenon where individuals tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them, often due to repeated exposure.

Self - Fulfilling proohecy

A prediction that causes itself to become true due to the behavior it generates, influencing individuals to act in ways that confirm the initial expectation.

Social Compaison

The process of evaluating oneself in relation to others, often to assess abilities, opinions, or social status. This can lead to feelings of superiority or inferiority based on how one measures up to peers.

Upward Social Comparison

Evaluating oneself against those considered better or more successful, often leading to feelings of inadequacy or motivation for self-improvement.

DownWard Social Comparison

Evaluating oneself against those considered worse off, which can boost self-esteem and provide a sense of superiority.

Relative Deprevation

The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself, leading to feelings of injustice or dissatisfaction.

Refrence Group

A group to which an individual compares themselves for self-evaluation and social identity, influencing attitudes and behaviors.

Attitude

A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. Attitudes influence how we think, feel, and behave toward people, objects, and ideas.

Explicit Attitudes

Attitudes that individuals are consciously aware of and can easily report, often shaped by personal experiences and beliefs.

Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes that are expressed indirectly and are often unconscious, influencing behavior without our awareness.

Just world Phenomenen

The belief that the world is fundamentally just, leading people to assume that individuals get what they deserve, often resulting in victim-blaming.

Victom -Blaming

the tendency to hold victims accountable for their misfortunes, often leading to a belief that they deserved their fate.

Out group Homogenity Bias

The tendency to view members of an out-group as more similar to each other than they are, while recognizing the diversity within one's own in-group. This bias can affect perceptions and interactions between different social groups.

In group Bias

The tendency to favor members of one's own group over those in out-groups, often leading to preferential treatment and positive evaluations of in-group members.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to others, leading to the evaluation of other cultures based on the standards of one's own. This often results in misunderstanding and negative perceptions of different cultural practices.

Cultural Relativsm

The principle that a person's beliefs and activities should be understood based on that individual's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another culture. This perspective promotes understanding and tolerance of cultural differences.

Belif perserverance

The tendency to maintain a belief despite new evidence that contradicts it. This phenomenon can lead individuals to hold onto misconceptions even when faced with opposing facts.

confirmation bias

the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs.

Stereotypes

Overgeneralized beliefs about a group of people that can lead to misconceptions and unfair treatment of individuals based on their membership in that group.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that simplify decision-making and problem-solving processes. They are often based on past experiences and can lead to biases.

Prejudiced Attitudes

Negative evaluations or feelings towards individuals based on their group membership. These attitudes can lead to discrimination and reinforce stereotypes.

Discrminatory Behavior

Actions that treat individuals unfairly based on their group membership, often resulting from prejudiced attitudes and stereotypes.

Explicit Prejuidice

Conscious and openly expressed negative attitudes towards a specific group or its members, contrasting with implicit prejudice.

Implicit prejuidice

Unconscious biases or attitudes towards individuals based on their group membership, which can manifest in subtle or indirect ways.

Cognititve Dissonance

A psychological state that occurs when a person experiences conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors, often leading to discomfort and a drive to achieve internal consistency.

Socal Norms

The accepted standards of behavior that are expected within a group or society, guiding how individuals should act in various situations.

Conformity

The tendency to adjust one's attitudes or behaviors to align with perceived group norms, often to gain social approval or avoid rejection.

Group Size

The number of individuals in a group, which can influence levels of conformity and group dynamics.

Unamity of the group

A situation where all members of a group share the same opinion or decision, which significantly influences individual conformity and decision-making.

group cohesion

The degree to which group members bond and work together, influencing conformity and group performance.

authorfity

A social influence process where individuals comply with directives or requests from a person perceived to hold power or authority, often affecting behavior and decisions.

cultural factors

aspects of culture that influence behavior, attitudes, and perceptions within a social context.

individualistic culture

A culture that emphasizes personal independence, self-reliance, and individual achievements over group goals and harmony.

multicultralism

the coexistence of diverse cultures within a society, promoting mutual respect and understanding.

Obedience

the act of following commands or instructions from an authority figure, often studied in social psychology to understand conformity and compliance.

Dissent

the expression or holding of opinions that differ from those previously, commonly, or officially held; often associated with resistance to authority or prevailing norms.

Social Influence Thoery

A theory in social psychology that examines how individuals change their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in response to real or imagined influence from others.

Normative Influence

The type of social influence that leads to conformity in order to be accepted or liked by a group, often resulting in public compliance without private agreement.

Informational Influences

a type of social influence that leads to conformity when individuals accept evidence about reality provided by others, often in ambiguous situations.

Elaboration Liklihold Model

A theory that explains how individuals process persuasive information by considering the extent to which they elaborate or think critically about the message, leading to different types of attitude change.

CEntral route to persuasion

the process of attitude change that involves careful and thoughtful consideration of the arguments presented in a persuasive message, often leading to lasting change.

Peripheral Route

to persuasion refers to the process of attitude change that occurs through superficial cues rather than through the quality of the arguments presented, often resulting in more temporary change.

Halo Effect

A cognitive bias where the perception of one positive trait, such as attractiveness, influences the perception of other traits, like intelligence or kindness.

Foot in the door technique

A compliance strategy that involves getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up with a smaller, more manageable request.

Door - in - the - face technique

A compliance strategy that involves making a large request that is likely to be refused, followed by a smaller request that is more reasonable and likely to be accepted.

Group ploarization

is a phenomenon where the opinions of a group become more extreme after group discussion, leading to a strengthening of the prevailing viewpoint.

Groupthink

A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, where the desire for harmony or conformity results in irrational or dysfunctional decision-making.

Deinviduation

A social psychological concept referring to the loss of self-awareness and individual accountability in group situations, often leading to impulsive or deviant behavior.

Diffusion of responsibility

is a social phenomenon where individuals in a group feel less compelled to take action or responsibility for a situation, assuming that others will do so.

Social loafing

the tendency for individuals to put in less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

Indusrial organizational psychologists

specialize in studying workplace behavior to improve employee performance, satisfaction, and overall organizational effectiveness.

Social Facilitation

is the tendency for individuals to perform better on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others, while their performance may decrease on complex tasks.

False Consensus Effect

is a cognitive bias where individuals overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are shared by others.

superordinate goals

are shared goals that necessitate cooperation among individuals or groups, reducing intergroup conflict.

Social traps

refers to situations in which individuals or groups pursue their own self-interest, leading to a mutually detrimental outcome. These traps illustrate how short-term gains can lead to long-term losses for all involved.

Prosocial Behaviors

are actions intended to benefit others or society as a whole, including helping, sharing, and cooperation.

Alturistic Act

an action intended to benefit others, often at a personal cost to oneself.

Social Responsibilty Norms

expectations that individuals will help others who depend on them, particularly in emergency situations.

Social Reciprocaity norm

the expectation that people will respond to each other in kind, returning favors and helping those who have helped them.

Bystander Efffect

the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

Diffusion of responsibilty

the tendency for individuals to feel less responsible for taking action when others are present.

Psychodynamic

theory of psychology that emphasizes the role of unconscious processes and childhood experiences in shaping behavior and personality.

Denial

a defense mechanism in which an individual refuses to accept reality or facts, blocking external events from awareness.

Displacment

a defense mechanism in which an individual redirects emotions or impulses from a threatening target to a safer one, often displacing feelings onto someone or something else.

Projection

is a defense mechanism where an individual attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, and motives to another person, thus shielding themselves from their own anxiety.

Rationalization

is a defense mechanism that involves providing logical or reasonable explanations for behaviors or feelings that are actually motivated by irrational or emotional factors.

Reaction Formation

is a defense mechanism where an individual responds to an unwanted thought or feeling by expressing its opposite, often to hide their true feelings.

Regression

is a defense mechanism where an individual reverts to earlier stages of development or behaviors in response to stress or anxiety, often displaying childlike reactions.

Sublimation

is a defense mechanism that involves channeling unacceptable impulses or desires into socially acceptable behaviors or activities, allowing for constructive expression.

Repression

is a defense mechanism that involves unconsciously blocking out unpleasant thoughts, feelings, or memories from awareness. Repressed material may influence behavior and emotions without conscious realization.

Ego

is the part of the personality that mediates between the desires of the id and the constraints of the superego. It operates on the reality principle, seeking to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways.

Super ego

is the part of the personality that represents internalized moral standards and ideals derived from parents and society. It acts to control the impulses of the id and strives for perfection and virtue.

Id

is the primal part of the personality that contains basic instincts and drives. It operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification of needs and desires without consideration for reality or social norms.

Projective personality Tests

are psychological assessments used to uncover hidden emotions and internal conflicts by analyzing how individuals project their thoughts and feelings onto ambiguous stimuli.

objective personality test

are standardized assessments designed to measure personality traits and characteristics through structured questions and self-report inventories.

Humanistic

approaches in psychology emphasize individual potential and stress the importance of growth and self-actualization.

Positive Regard

is the acceptance and support of a person regardless of what they say or do, considered crucial for self-esteem and personal growth in humanistic psychology.

Uncondtioned Positive Regard

is an attitude of total acceptance and support, regardless of the individual's actions or feelings, allowing them to grow freely.

CONditioned positive regard

is the conditional acceptance and support based on specific behaviors or criteria, which can affect a person's self-esteem and development.

Self concept

is the perception and understanding that a person has of themselves, encompassing beliefs, feelings, and thoughts about their identity.

Self-Esteem

is the subjective evaluation of one's own worth or value, influenced by experiences, beliefs, and self-perception.

Self Actualizing Tendency

is the innate drive in individuals to realize and fulfill their potential and capabilities, leading to personal growth and self-improvement.

Self transendence

is the process of going beyond the self to connect with something greater, often involving altruism, spiritual experiences, and transcending personal limitations.

Qualatative Methods

are research techniques that focus on understanding human behavior and experiences through observation, interviews, and open-ended surveys, emphasizing depth over numerical data.

Q sort Technique

is a method used in psychology to assess personality by having individuals sort statements into categories that reflect their feelings or viewpoints, revealing their self-concept and personality characteristics.

Congruence

is the state of alignment between an individual's self-concept and their experiences, often leading to a sense of authenticity and well-being.

Social Cogniive theory

is a psychological framework that emphasizes the importance of social interactions, observational learning, and the influence of cognitive processes in shaping behaviors and personality.