Social Psychology

Flashcards related to social psychology concepts

Prosocial Behavior

Voluntary actions intended to benefit others or society as a whole, characterized by actions that are intended to help, support, or benefit others, rather than oneself.

Social Influence Theory

Explains how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by the presence and actions of others, encompassing concepts like conformity, obedience, and persuasion. Individuals' behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs are significantly impacted by the social environment and the people around them.

Conformity

The tendency to adjust one's behavior, attitudes, and beliefs to align with those of a group or social norm.

Obedience

The act of complying with the commands or instructions of an authority figure.

Persuasion

The process of influencing others to adopt a particular viewpoint or take a specific action.

Social Facilitation

The phenomenon where the presence of others improves performance on simple or well-learned tasks.

Social Loafing

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

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations, often leading to impulsive or antisocial behaviors.

Informational Social Influence

Conforming to the opinions or behaviors of others because they are seen as knowledgeable or providing valuable information.

Normative Social Influence

Conforming to gain approval or avoid disapproval from others.

Attribution Theory

Explores how people explain the causes of behaviors and events, distinguishing between internal (dispositional) and external (situational) attributions, and how biases can affect these judgments.

Attribution

The process of explaining the causes of behaviors and events.

Internal (Dispositional) Attributions

Attributing behavior to a person's internal characteristics, such as personality traits or abilities.

External (Situational) Attributions

Attributing behavior to external factors, such as the situation or environment.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize internal attributions and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behaviors.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute our own actions to situational factors while attributing others' actions to their personality or disposition.

Just-World Hypothesis

The belief that people get what they deserve, leading to victim-blaming.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to believe that others share our beliefs and opinions.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out information that confirms existing beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them.

Mere Exposure Effect

Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases our liking or preference for that stimulus.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A psychological theory explaining how people process persuasive information, suggesting two routes: the central route (careful consideration) and the peripheral route (superficial cues).

Central Route Persuasion

Persuasion that occurs through careful consideration of the message's content and arguments.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Persuasion that occurs through superficial cues and heuristics.

Richard LaPierre Experiment

Demonstrates a disconnect between stated attitudes and actual behavior, showing that people's actions may not always align with their expressed beliefs, particularly regarding prejudice.

Compliance

Changing one's behavior in response to a direct request, even if it doesn't align with one's personal beliefs.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Starting with a small, easy-to-agree-to request, and then following up with a larger, more difficult request.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Beginning with a large, unreasonable request that is likely to be refused, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request that seems more appealing in comparison.

Low-Balling

Making an attractive initial offer to induce someone to accept, then making the terms less favorable.

Social Trap

A situation where individuals act in their own self-interest to the detriment of long-term interests.

Stereotype

A generalized belief about a group of people, often oversimplified and inaccurate.

Prejudice

A negative attitude or feeling towards a group or its members, often based on stereotypes.

Discrimination

The negative behavior or action towards a group or its members, based on prejudice or stereotypes.

Implicit Attitude

An unconscious evaluation or association that influences thoughts and actions, operating outside of conscious awareness, unlike explicit attitudes which are easily articulated and self-reported.

Outgroup Homogeneity Bias

A cognitive bias where individuals perceive members of groups they don't belong to as more alike and less diverse than members of their own group.

In-group Bias

The tendency for individuals to favor their own group (the "in-group") and its members, while viewing and treating those who belong to other groups (the "out-group") less favorably.

Superordinate Goals

Objectives that cannot be attained by one group alone but necessitate collaboration and shared effort from multiple groups.

Robbers Cave Experiment

Demonstrated how introducing superordinate goals (problems that only be solved through joint efforts) led to reduced conflict between two groups of boys.

Aggression

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

Antisocial Behavior

Actions that violate the rights of others, often including criminal acts, lying, and manipulation.

Frustration-Aggression Principle

The principle suggests that when individuals experience frustration, they are more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors.

Interpersonal Attraction

The positive feelings and interest one person has for another.

Social Facilitation

The tendency for individuals to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when in the presence of others, rather than when alone.

Upward Social Comparison

Occurs when individuals compare themselves to others they perceive as more successful, skilled, or fortunate.

Downward Social Comparison

Happens when individuals compare themselves to others they perceive as less successful, skilled, or fortunate.

Relative Deprivation Theory

People feel dissatisfied when they perceive that others have more advantages or resources than they do, leading to feelings of unfairness.

Normative Social Influence

Influence stems from a person's desire to be liked and accepted by a group. People conform to group norms to avoid social rejection or disapproval.

Informational Social Influence

Occurs when individuals conform because they believe the group is correct or has valuable information.

Social Loafing

The phenomenon where individuals put in less effort when working on a group task than they would if they were working individually.

Group Polarization

The tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of its individual members, often amplifying existing attitudes and beliefs through group discussion.

Groupthink

The tendency of a group to prioritize harmony and cohesion over critical thinking and independent judgment, leading to poor decision-making.

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations, leading to potentially impulsive or risky behaviors.

Zimbardo Prison Experiment

A controversial study conducted in 1971, explored how social roles and situational factors influence behavior, demonstrating that people readily conform to assigned roles, even to the point of cruelty, when placed in a simulated prison environment.

Bystander Effect

A social psychological theory that suggests that the presence of other people reduces the likelihood of any one person intervening to help someone in distress.

Diffusion of Responsibility

Individuals feel less personally responsible for taking action when others are also present.

Milgram Experiment

To investigate obedience to authority and the willingness of individuals to inflict harm on others when instructed by an authority figure.

Rosenthal and Jacobson Pygmalion Effect

Teacher expectations on student performance.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Initial belief or expectation influences a person's actions or behavior, ultimately leading to the realization of that belief.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort that arises when a person holds conflicting beliefs, values, or behaviors, or when their actions contradict their beliefs.

Life Change Unit (LCU)

A numerical score assigned to a specific life event, reflecting the perceived amount of readjustment required on the SRRS to measure stress.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

A three-stage physiological response to stress, proposed by Hans Selye, involving alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Tend and Befriend Theory

Suggests that in response to stress, humans, particularly females, more often exhibit behaviors like tending to offspring and seeking social connection to reduce distress

Emotion-Focused Coping

Managing the emotional impact of a stressful event, rather than trying to alter the event or situation.

Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG)

Posttraumatic growth is the positive psychological changes and development that can occur as a result of struggling with highly challenging or traumatic life experiences.