SOC 340 Notes

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

Social Influence

The ways in which individuals change their behavior to meet the demands of a social environment, applied in areas like marketing, peer pressure, conformity, obedience, and persuasion.

Direct Social Influence

Explicit attempts to change behavior, such as commands from authority figures or persuasive arguments.

Indirect Social Influence

Changes in behavior due to social norms, expectations, or the mere presence of others.

Empirical Questions

Questions that can be answered through systematic observation, experimentation, or data collection.

Folk Wisdom

Widely held beliefs and traditional sayings that are not systematically tested.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe that one 'knew it all along' after an event has occurred.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about the relationship between variables.

Behaviorism

A psychological approach focusing on observable behaviors and the ways they're learned through interactions with the environment.

Replication Study

A study conducted to confirm the findings of another research study.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when others are present.

Observational Research

Research method involving watching and recording behaviors, which has limitations such as inability to determine causation.

Schema

A mental framework that helps organize and interpret information.

Social Cognition

The study of how people process, store, and apply information about others and social situations.

Automatic Thinking

Fast, unconscious, and effortless cognitive processing.

Controlled Thinking

Deliberate, effortful, and conscious cognitive processing.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A phenomenon where expectations about a person lead them to behave in ways that confirm those expectations.

Priming

The activation of certain associations in memory, influencing perception and behavior without conscious awareness.

Social Perception

The process of interpreting and understanding information about others.

Cultural Display Rules

Guidelines dictating how and when it is appropriate to express emotions in different cultures.

Self-Concept

Our knowledge and understanding of ourselves, evolving from concrete traits in childhood to abstract concepts in adulthood.

Introspection

The examination of one's own thoughts and feelings, which is limited by a lack of self-awareness.

Self-Awareness Theory

The theory suggesting that focusing on oneself leads to evaluating one's behavior against internal standards.

Looking-Glass Self

Cooley's concept that self-concept develops through how others perceive us.

Role-Taking Process

Mead’s stages of social development, including the Preparatory Stage, Play Stage, and Game Stage.

Generalized Other

Societal expectations and norms that shape individual behavior.

Narcissism

A personality trait characterized by inflated self-importance, lack of empathy, and a craving for admiration.

Self-Esteem

An individual's overall evaluation of their self-worth.

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychological discomfort arising from conflicting beliefs or behaviors, leading to attitude changes or rationalization.

Post-Decision Dissonance

Uncertainty felt after making a choice, often leading to justification of the decision.

Rationalizing

The process of justifying actions or beliefs to reduce discomfort.