Unit 14 - Social Psychology

Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory

- the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition
- dispositional/situational

Fundamental Attribution Error

- the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Self-Serving Bias

- the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors

Peripheral Route Persuasion

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

Center-Route Persuasion

- occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
- this method focuses on facts and the content of the message in order to convince the listener, as opposed to relying on peripheral factors like the personality of the speaker, or how the message was delivered
- more thoughtful and durable

Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon

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

Phillip Zimbardo

- social psychology
- Stanford Prison Study: college students were randomly assigned to roles of prisoners or guards in a study that looked at who social situations influence behavior
- showed that peoples' behavior depends to a large extent on the roles they are asked to play

Cognitive Dissonance

- theory that we act to reduce discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent
- when our attitude and actions don't coincide, we experience tension or discomfort

Conformity

- adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Solomon Asch

- 1907-1996
- Field: social psychology
- Contributions: studied conformity, found that individuals would conform even if they knew it was wrong
- Studies: conformity, opinions and social pressures

Stanley Milgram

- 1933-1984
- Field: social psychology
- Contributions: wanted to see how the German soldiers in WWII fell to obedience, wanted to see how far individuals would go to be obedient
- Studies: Shock Study

Social Facilitation

- improved performance of tasks in the presence of others
- occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered

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

Deindividuation

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

Group Polarization

- the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group
- tendency of group members to move to an extreme position after discussing an issue as a group

Groupthink

- the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

Prejudice

- an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members
- generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

Stereotype

- a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Discrimination

- unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members

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

Ingroup Bias

- the tendency to favor one's own group

Outgroup Bias

- the tendency to have negative views about people that are not part of one's own group

Scapegoat Theory

- the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

Mere-Exposure Effect

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

Altruism

- unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Bystander Effect

- the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

Reciprocity Norm

- expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

Social Trap

- a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

Superordinate Goals

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