AP Psych Social Psychology

Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory

Explains how people decide whether someone’s behavior or is caused by their personality or their situation

Dispositional Attributions

Assuming a person’s actions are due to their personality, not their situation

Situational Attributions

Assuming a person’s actions are due to their circumstances, not their personality

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to blame people’s actions more on their personality and less on their situation

Actor-Observer Bias

The habit of blaming our own actions on the situation but blaming other people’s actions on their personality

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal characteristics and failures to external factors, enhancing one’s self-esteem

Just-World Hypothesis

good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people

Peripheral Route of Persuasion

a method of persuasion that relies on attractiveness or credibility of the speaker, rather than the actual content of the message

Central Route of Persuasion

A method of persuasion that uses logic and evidence to convince people to change their attitudes and beliefs

Foot-in-the-Door-Technique

A persuasive strategy where agreement to a small, initial request increases the likelihood of compliance with a larger, subsequent request

Door-in-the-Face-Technique

A persuasion strategy where a large, initial request is made knowing it will be refused, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request that is more likely to be accepted

Cognitive dissonance

the mental discomfort or tension that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes

Cognitive dissonance theory

We are motivated to reduce this uncomfortable feeling by changing our beliefs to match our actions

Social facilitation

strengthened performance in others’ presence

Social inhibition

weakened performance in others’ presence

Social loafing

the tendency of an individual in a group to exert less effort toward attaining a common goal

Deindividuation

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

Group Polarization

tendency to shift toward more extreme positions after group discussion

Group think

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

Mirror-image perception

tendency to one oneself (especially while in conflict) as the opposite of the person with whom they are having a conflict

Self-fulfilling prophecy

When a belief about a situation or a person leads to actions that make the belief come true

Social Traps

by pursuing our self interests and not trusting others, we can end up loser

Prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude towards a group and its members; generally involved stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

Discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group and its members

Bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if others are present

Altruism

the act of helping others, even if it involves a cost or risk to oneself