Ch 12 - Concise Social Psychology FCs

What is social psychology?

The study of the causes and consequences of sociality—how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others.

What are the two main focuses of social psychology?

Social cognition (understanding others) and social influence (changing or directing others' behavior).

Aggression

What is aggression?

Behavior intended to harm another person.

What does the frustration-aggression hypothesis state?

Animals aggress when their goals are frustrated; frustration is the obstruction of a goal.

What's the difference between proactive and reactive aggression?

Proactive aggression is planned and purposeful; reactive aggression is impulsive and driven by negative emotion.

How does testosterone affect aggression?

Higher testosterone increases confidence, dominance, and sensitivity to provocation—making aggression more likely.

How does culture influence aggression?

"Culture of honor" norms (e.g., in southern U.S.) increase aggression when status is threatened; cultural values shape when aggression is acceptable.

Cooperation & Altruism

What is cooperation?

Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit.

What is the prisoner's dilemma?

A game illustrating the risks of cooperation—betrayal may lead to better personal outcomes but worse joint outcomes.

What is the ultimatum game?

One player divides money; the other can accept or reject—people reject unfair offers, showing humans value fairness.

What is altruism?

Intentional behavior that benefits another at a potential cost to oneself.

What is kin selection?

Evolutionary principle that favors helping relatives to ensure survival of shared genes.

What is reciprocal altruism?

Helping others with the expectation that the favor will be returned in the future.

Groups and Social Behavior

What is a group?

A collection of people who share something in common that distinguishes them from others.

What is in-group favoritism?

The tendency to treat people in one's group more favorably than outsiders.

What is the common knowledge effect?

Groups focus on information all members share, ignoring unique but vital info.

What is group polarization?

Groups make decisions more extreme than any single member would make alone.

What is groupthink?

The tendency for groups to reach consensus to preserve harmony, often at the cost of good decisions.

What is deindividuation?

When group immersion causes people to lose self-awareness and ignore personal values.

What is diffusion of responsibility?

The tendency to feel less personally accountable when others are acting the same way.

What is social loafing?

Contributing less effort in a group task than when working alone.

Diffusion of responsibility is the main culprit behind social loafing, which is the tendency to contribute less when in a group than when alone

What is the bystander effect?

The tendency to be less likely to help when others are present due to shared responsibility.

Why are women typically choosier in mate selection?

Reproduction is biologically costlier and riskier for women.

What situational factor increases attraction?

Proximity—being physically near others increases likelihood of interaction.

What is the mere exposure effect?

Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it.

What physical traits are universally attractive?

Symmetry, average features, and culturally ideal body shapes (triangle for men, hourglass for women).

How does age influence attraction?

Men prefer younger women (fertility cue); women prefer older men (resource cue).

What is homophily?

The tendency to like people who are similar to ourselves.

Why does similarity attract?

It's easier to interact, validates our beliefs, and increases mutual liking.

What are the two types of love?

Passionate love (intense, sexual, short-term) and companionate love (trust, affection, long-term).

What is interdependence theory?

People remain in relationships as long as perceived benefits outweigh costs.

What is equity in relationships?

When partners' cost-benefit ratios are roughly equal.

What is the comparison level for alternatives?

The perceived benefits one could get from another relationship.

Social Perception & Attribution

What is stereotyping?

Drawing inferences about individuals based on their group membership.

What is prejudice?

A negative attitude/feeling toward someone based solely on group membership.

What is discrimination?

Negative behavior/action/treatment toward someone based solely on group membership.

What are the four problems with stereotypes?

They can be inaccurate, overused, self-perpetuating, and unconscious/automatic.

What is stereotype threat?

Anxiety over confirming a negative stereotype about one's group.

What is behavioral confirmation (self-fulfilling prophecy)?

When people behave as others expect, confirming the stereotype.

What is perceptual confirmation?

Seeing what we expect to see based on stereotypes.

What is subtyping?

Labeling people who disconfirm stereotypes as exceptions.

What is attribution?

An inference about the cause of someone's behavior.

What are situational vs. dispositional attributions?

Situational = external causes; Dispositional = internal traits.

What is the fundamental attribution error?

Overestimating dispositional factors and underestimating situational ones in others' behavior.

What is the actor-observer effect?

We attribute our behavior to situations but others' behavior to their dispositions.

Social Influence

What are the three primary motives in social influence?

Hedonic (pleasure/pain), approval (acceptance/rejection), and accuracy (truth/error).

What is the hedonic motive?

Desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain—basis for reward and punishment.

What is the overjustification effect?

When external rewards reduce intrinsic motivation.

What is reactance?

Unpleasant feeling when one feels coerced; may lead to doing the opposite.

What are social norms?

Shared expectations for behavior within a culture.

What is the norm of reciprocity?

People should return benefits to those who benefit them.

What is normative influence?

Conforming because others' behavior shows what is socially appropriate.

What is informational influence?

Conforming because others' behavior provides information about what is correct.

What is the door-in-the-face technique?

Asking for a large request first so a smaller one seems reasonable.

What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

Gaining compliance with a small request first, then following with a larger one.

What is lowballing?

A manipulation technique in which a persuader gets someone to commit to some behavior and then increases the "cost" of that same behavior

What is conformity?

Tendency to adjust behavior or thinking to match a group standard.

What did Asch's line study show?

75% of participants conformed to an obviously wrong answer at least once.

What factors increase conformity?

Group size (up to ~5), lack of a dissenter, and ambiguous tasks.

What reduces conformity?

Presence of a dissenter or high confidence in one's judgment.

What is obedience?

Following commands from an authority figure.

What did Milgram's experiment demonstrate?

Ordinary people obey authority even when harming others; 65% went to full shock.

What factors reduce obedience?

Victim proximity, authority distance, and reduced legitimacy.

What is an attitude?

An enduring positive or negative evaluation of a stimulus.

What is a belief?

A piece of knowledge about a stimulus.

What is persuasion?

Changing attitudes or beliefs through communication.

What are the two routes of persuasion?

Central route (reason-based) and peripheral route (emotion/habit-based).

What factors increase central-route persuasion?

High personal relevance, cognitive ability, and motivation.

What is cognitive dissonance?

The discomfort from inconsistency between attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

How do people reduce cognitive dissonance?

Change attitudes, change behavior, add justifying cognitions, or trivialize conflict.

When does dissonance increase?

When behavior is freely chosen, threatens self-worth, or has foreseeable negative consequences.

What is the theory of planned behavior?

Attitudes predict behavior when supported by norms and perceived control.

Attribution?

An inference about the cause of a person's behavior

situational when that person's behavior was caused by?

situational when that person's behavior was caused by some temporary aspect of the situation

dispositional when we decide a person's behavior was caused by ?

dispositional when we decide a person's behavior was caused by a relatively enduring tendency to think, feel, or act in a particular way

Fundamental attribution error?

Fundamental attribution error: The tendency to make a dispositional attribution when we should instead make a situational attribution

Actor-observer effect?

Actor-observer effect: The tendency to make situational attributions for own behaviors while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others

I cut someone off and understand I need to get somewhere. Someone cuts me off and I think they are an *******.

We only see what we see, not what others see