Social Psych Ch 11-13 Vocab

Adaptation-Level Theory

Idea that people adapt to new situations in life and then return to their previous level of well-being

Affective Forecasting

Predicting the intensity and duration of our emotional responses to future events

Collective Trap

Situation in which many individuals seek to maximize their own gains in a rational manner, resulting in cumulative damage or harm

Durability Bias

Tendency to overestimate how long one’s emotional reactions to future events will last

External Validity

Extent to which the results of a study can be generalized or applied to other settings and populations (also called generalizability)

Eudaimonic Happiness

Deep, longer-lasting contentment or general satisfaction with life associated with living a meaningful life

Extrinsic Orientation

View of religion as a means to nonreligious ends

Focalism

Placing too much emphasis on the focal event and too little on the nonfocal events

Generalizability

Extent to which the results of a study can be generalized or applied to other settings and populations (also called external validity)

Happiness (Subjective Well-Being)

Combination of temporary positive and negative feelings and overall life satisfaction

Hedonic Happiness

Short-term pleasure people derive from things like chocolate, sex, or a new pair of pants

Hedonic Treadmill

Idea that people move forward through life but their level of happiness remains about the same

Immune Neglect

Tendency for people to ignore their ability to psychologically rebound from emotional setbacks and negative events

Intrinsic Orientation

View of religion as an end in itself

Missing-Hero Trap

Situation in which action or information is required to solve a problem, bit no one steps forward to take the action or supply the information, despite being able to do so

Mundane Realism

Making a study similar to the relevant real-world setting in all important respects

One-Person Trap

Present when a person satisfies his or her short-term needs at the expense of long-term ones

Positive Psychology

Focuses on optimal human functioning, including what is good and/or adaptive about humans

Quest Orientation

View of religion as an open-ended process of trying to answer existential questions

Random Selection or Sampling

When every individual in a population has an equal probability of being chosen for inclusion in the study

Religiousness

Extent to which a person is involved in religion

Representative Sampling

When a study sample that mirrors the relevant population on the variables that matter, such as frequencies of gender, age, language, or ethnicity

Set Point

The level of well-being to which a person typically returns after experiencing significant life events

Social Dilemmas or Social Traps

Situations in which individuals choose between maximizing their own beneficial outcomes and maximizing those of the group

Sunk-Cost Effect

Tendency for people to be reluctant to give up on a course of action that they have invested time, money, and/or effort into, even if it is in their best interest to do so

Attachment Style

Patterns of expectations, needs, and behaviors a person typically exhibits in close relationships

Close Relationship

When the influence between two people is strong, frequent, and enduring, and characterized by interdependence

Communal Relationship

Relationship in which individuals are primarily concerned about the welfare of the other, and they give to each other without expecting to receive anything in return

Companionate Love

Feelings of affection and intimacy that occur in the context of a relatively stable, trusting relationship that may or may not involve passionate love

Equity Theory

Idea that people prefer relationships— including close relationships— in which each partner enjoys the same ratio of benefits to costs

Event Sampling or Experience Sampling

Obtaining participants’ report on their life experiences while they are happening or just after they have happened

Exchange Relationship

Relationship that is based on the reciprocal exchange of benefits

Homophily

Preference people have for spending time with and/or connecting with people who are like them

Matching Hypothesis

Idea that people typically select romantic partners who are at approximately the same “level” of attractiveness as they are

Need for Affiliation

Desire to be around and interact with other people

Need to Belong

Desire to form and maintain close and durable relationships with others

Passionate Love

Intense longing for union with another person, characterized by physiological arousal, strong attraction, and frequent thoughts about that person

Paternity Uncertainty

Fact that throughout evolutionary history, males have never really known whether the children of their female partners are truly genetically their own

Positive Illusion

An overly rosy view of the self, others, or situations

Reinforcement-Affect Model of Interpersonal Attraction

Postulates that people prefer to interact with and befriend others who they find to be emotionally rewarding

Relationship

When two people influence each other

Romantic or Sexual Jealousy

Uncomfortable psychological arousal that often occurs in response to an infidelity threat to a sexual relationship

Sexual Selection

Efforts intended to maintain or defend one’s positive self-image

Social Exchange Theory

Idea that people view their interactions with others in terms of the trade-off between benefits and costs and that they seek to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs

Social Role Theory

Postulates that biological and social factors together can sufficiently explain sex differences in mate preferences

Theory of Differential Parental Investment and Sexual Selection

Idea that (a) the sex that is more invested in the offspring will be more selective in choosing sexual partners, and (b) the less invested sex will engage in more intrasexual competition in order to gain access to the more invested sex

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

Idea that the experience of emotion is comprised of two distinct processes: general physiological arousal and an emotion label

Brainstorming

Procedure in which members of a group are encouraged to generate as many ideas as they can within a specific amount of time

Case Study

Close examination of an event, person, or group

Common-Bond Group

Group primarily based on the attachments that members have to each other (rather than to the group itself)

Common-Identity Group

Group primarily based on the attachments members have to the group itself (rather than to other members), even in the absence of direct interaction among group members

Contingency Model of Leadership

Postulates that leadership effectiveness is contingent upon both the behavior of the leader and aspects of the situation

Conversion Theory

Idea that dissent within a group leads to an uncomfortable conflict that members are motivated to reduce and, consequently, either change their own opinions or try to change those of others

Deindividuation

Psychological state characterized by loss of self-awareness and the sense of personal responsibility

Distraction-Conflict Theory

Idea that the actor is distracted from focusing on the task at hand, and thereby creating a conflict between the need to concentrate on that task and minimizing the distraction caused by others

Entitativity

Extent to which outside observers can easily conceptualize a collection of individuals as a true group

Evaluation Apprehension

Concern about how others are going to judge one’s performance

Free Riding

When group members exert little or no effort because they believe that their contribution to the group task is dispensable or not important to the overall group output

Group

Two or more individuals who perceive themselves as part of a unit and who both influence each other and are interdependent

Group Cohesiveness

Strength of the bonds that hold group members together and keep them in the group

Groupiness

Degree to which a collection of individuals is grouplike

Group Polarization

Tendency for group discussion to enhance the initial leanings of the individuals prior to discussion

Groupthink

Type of faulty thinking in groups that strives to maintain cohesion and achieve unanimity at the expense of adequately evaluating the information and options available to the group

Leadership

Process by which a person influences group members to work toward common goals

Mere Presence

Presence of others while one is performing a task leads to physiological arousal, which in turn affects how well the person performs

Minority Influence

When numerical minority in a group changes the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors of the majority

Orientation-Discussion-Decision-Implementation (ODDI) Model

Postulates that effective decision-making consists of four stages of deliberation and subsequent action: orientation, discussion, decision, and implementation

Process Loss

Reduction in the ability of a group to engage in good problem solving that stems from shortcomings in group interaction

Shared Information Bias

Tendency for groups to spend too much time discussing information that all members possess rather than unshared information

Social Facilitation

Presence of others improves performance on well-learned or easy tasks but decreases it on novel or difficult ones

Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE)

Postulates that immersion in groups can heighten one’s sense of self

Social Loafing

When individuals exert less effort when working in a group as opposed to working alone

Social Selection

Genes that facilitate successful social living are more likely to be passed to a new generation

Transactional Leaders

Individuals who use transactions—offering benefits (eg. money, promotion, etc) to members in exchange for their energy and effort—to motivate the group to work toward shared goals

Transactive Memory

Group memory that is the combination of the memories of individuals

Transformational Leaders

Individuals who offer a compelling vision that inspires followers to set aside personal needs and work hard toward loftier, overarching goals