Social Cognition and Group Influence

Practice flashcards covering social cognition, attribution theory, tri-component model of attitudes, cognitive dissonance, heuristics, prejudice, and social influence theories.

Social Cognition

How we perceive, think about and use information to understand and make judgements about ourselves and others in different social situations.

Person perception

The mental processes used to form impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of other people.

Halo effect

A type of person perception based on physical cues where physically attractive people are perceived more positively.

Attribution

The process by which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behaviour.

Personal attribution

An explanation of behaviour due to the characteristics of the person involved, such as their personality, ability, or attitude.

Situational attribution

An explanation of behaviour due to factors external to the individual, associated with the situation the person is in.

Self-serving bias

The tendency to protect self-esteem by blaming failures on external factors rather than inexperience or carelessness.

Actor-observer effect

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own actions to external causes while attributing others' actions to internal causes.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining other people's behaviour.

Attitude

An evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue, characterized by reactions such as likes and dislikes.

Tri-component model of attitudes

A theory proposing that an attitude consists of three related dimensions: affective, behavioural, and cognitive ($ABC$).

Affective component

The part of an attitude involving feelings towards an object, person, group, event, or issue.

Behavioural component

The part of an attitude involving the way it is expressed through actions or how one might behave if the opportunity arises.

Cognitive component

The part of an attitude involving the beliefs or thoughts held about an object, person, group, event, or issue.

Stereotyping

The process of fitting, grouping or slotting people together based on shared characteristics.

Stereotype

A collection of beliefs held about people belonging to a certain group, regardless of individual differences among members; it represents the cognitive component of prejudiced attitudes.

Cognitive dissonance

An unpleasant psychological state that occurs when people become aware of inconsistency among their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours.

Cognitive bias

A systematic error of judgement and faulty decision-making resulting from a distorted or mistaken way of thinking.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or problem-solving strategies using generalisations based on past experience to make judgements quickly and efficiently.

Cognitive load

The amount of information that working memory can hold at any given time.

Social Stigma

Negative labels associated with disapproval or rejection by others who are not labelled in that way.

Prejudice

A negative attitude towards a member of a group based solely on their membership in that group, often involving feelings of superiority.

Discrimination

Behaviour arising from prejudice, involving positive or negative actions directed towards a social group and its members.

Direct discrimination

Unfavourable treatment of a person because of a personal characteristic protected by law, such as age, sex, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Indirect discrimination

When the same treatment is applied to everyone but results in a disadvantage for someone due to a protected personal characteristic.

Social Influence

The effects of the presence or actions of others on the way people think, feel, and behave, always involving a degree of pressure.

Group

A collection of $2$ or more people who interact with and influence one another while sharing a common purpose.

In-group

The group that an individual belongs to or identifies with.

Out-group

A group that an individual does not belong to or identify with, often the target of prejudice.

Obedience

Occurs when individuals follow the commands of someone with authority or the rules and laws of society.

Social proximity

The closeness between two or more people, including physical distance and the closeness of their relationship.

Conformity

The tendency to adjust thoughts, feelings, or behaviour to agree with an individual, group, or accepted standards.

Unanimity

A factor in conformity where the presence of an ally causes conformity to decrease by $80\%$.

Independence

The experience of freedom from the influence or control of other individuals or groups.

Anti-conformity

The deliberate refusal to comply with accepted standards in society.