Social Psychology and Behavioral Influences

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on social psychology, including theories of behavior, compliance techniques, obedience studies, and group dynamics.

Social Psychology

The study of how our behavior is influenced by the environment, including other people and the situation.

Dispositional Attributions

Explanations for behavior based on a person's disposition, suggesting that good people do good things, and bad people do bad things.

Situational Attributions

Explanations for behavior based on external, situational factors, proposing that any person can exhibit good or evil behavior depending on the situation.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to rely on dispositional factors rather than situational ones when explaining someone's behavior.

Compliance

Changing one’s behavior in response to an explicit request.

Foot in the Door Effect

A compliance technique where agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a larger request.

Door in the Face Effect

A compliance technique where refusing an initial large request makes one more likely to comply with a smaller, more reasonable follow-up request.

Conformity

Changing behavior to match that of a group, often influenced by social pressure.

Normative Social Influence

The influence to conform with the expectations of others to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Informational Social Influence

Conforming to be accurate; behavior changes due to new facts or information.

Stanley Milgram's Obedience Study

An experiment demonstrating the extent to which people would obey an authority figure, even to the point of causing harm to another.

Bystander Effect

Not helping someone in need when it's reasonable to do so, often due to the presence of other observers.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The tendency for individuals to feel less accountable for action when others are present, leading to inaction.

Social Loafing

A phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in a group compared to working alone.

Social Facilitation

The tendency for performance to improve on simple tasks when in the presence of others.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort experienced when one's beliefs conflict with their actions.

Prisoner's Dilemma

A scenario in game theory where two individuals acting in self-interest leads to a worse outcome than if they had cooperated.