Social Psychology Exam 2 Vocab

Conformity

Changing your behavior or beliefs because of real or imagined group pressure.

Acceptance

Conforming both publicly and privately; you genuinely believe what the group believes.

Compliance

Publicly going along with a request while privately disagreeing

Obedience

Following explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure, even if you may not personally agree with them.

Informational influence

Conforming because you believe other people have information that helps you understand reality.

Normative influence

Conforming because you want to fit in, gain approval, or avoid rejection.

Norms

Social rules and expectations about how people should behave.

Autokinetic phenomenon

The illusion that a stationary point of light is moving in a dark room. It demonstrates how people can influence one another's judgments.

Pluralistic ignorance

Incorrectly believing that other people think or feel differently from you because nobody openly expresses their true feelings. In a group, in private, I dont like them.

Mass hysteria

When fears, symptoms, or reactions spread through a large group of people.

Evaluation apprehension

Worrying about how other people are judging or evaluating you.

Persuasion

The process of changing someone's beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors through a message.

Attitude

A positive or negative feeling or evaluation toward a person, object, or situation.

Central route to persuasion

Being persuaded by carefully considering the actual arguments and evidence in a message

Peripheral route to persuasion

Being persuaded by superficial or indirect cues, such as attractiveness, popularity, or presentation.

Channel of communication

The method used to deliver a message, such as television, social media, writing, or face-to-face communication.

Credibility

How believable a communicator is; usually influenced by expertise and trustworthiness.

Attractiveness

How appealing a communicator is to an audience, which can make their message more persuasive.

Primacy effect

Information presented first tends to have the greatest influence.

Recency effect

Information presented last sometimes has the greatest influence.

Sleeper effect

A message becomes more persuasive over time because people remember the message but forget why they initially discounted it

Need for cognition

How motivated someone is to think deeply and analyze information. (Devils Advocate)

Counterargument

Thinking of reasons why a persuasive message might be incorrect.

Attitude inoculation

Exposing someone to weak arguments against their beliefs so they can prepare defenses against stronger arguments later.

Reactance

The desire to regain freedom when someone feels that their choices or freedom are being restricted.

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Agreeing to a small request makes someone more likely to agree to a larger request later.

Door-in-the-face technique

Making a large request that will probably be rejected, then following it with a smaller, more reasonable request

Lowball technique

Getting someone to agree to something initially and then increasing the cost or commitment after they have agreed.

Framing

Presenting information in a particular way to influence how people interpret it or make decisions.

Selective Exposure

Seeking information that agrees with your existing beliefs while avoiding information that challenges them.

Confirmation bias

Looking for or favoring information that confirms what you already believe.

Belief perseverance

Continuing to believe something even after the evidence supporting it has been disproven.

Dual attitude system

Having two different attitudes toward the same thing: an automatic, unconscious attitude and a conscious, controlled attitude

Group

Two or more people who interact, influence one another, and see themselves as belonging together.

Cohesiveness

How strongly group members feel connected and united.

Deindividuation

Losing self-awareness and personal responsibility in a group, potentially leading to behavior you might not normally engage in.

Social Loafing

Putting in less effort when working in a group than when working individually.

Social Facilitation

The tendency for other people to strengthen your dominant response, often improving performance on easy tasks but worsening it on difficult tasks.

Free Riders

People who benefit from a group's efforts without contributing much themselves.

Group Think

When the desire for group agreement becomes so strong that members stop critically evaluating decisions and alternatives.

Leadership

The process of motivating and guiding members of a group

Task Leadership

Leadership focused on organizing work, setting expectations, and achieving goals.

Social leadership

Leadership focused on teamwork, supporting members, and resolving conflicts.

Transformational leadership

Leadership that inspires people through a strong vision and motivation to achieve significant goals. Transforming the group, cult like.

Social Identity

The part of your identity that comes from belonging to particular groups.

Self Awareness

Focusing attention on yourself, making you more aware of your attitudes and behavior.

Evaluation apprehension

The fear of being judged by others during social situations, which can affect performance and behavior.

Prejudice

A preconceived negative judgment or attitude toward a group and its members.

Stereotype

A generalized belief about the characteristics or traits of a particular group.

Discrimination

Unjustified negative behavior toward someone because of their group membership.

Ingroup

A group that you identify with and consider part of your community or identity ("us").

Outgroup

A group that you perceive as different from your own ("them")

Ingroup Bias

The tendency to favor members of your own group over members of other groups.

Outgroup homogeneity effect

The tendency to view members of another group as more alike than members of your own group.

Group-serving bias

Explaining away positive behavior by an outgroup while blaming negative behavior on their personalities, but making excuses for your own group's negative behavior.

Own-race bias

The tendency to recognize faces of your own racial group more accurately than faces of other racial groups.

Illusory correlation

Perceiving a relationship between two things when there is little or no actual relationship.

Just-world phenomenon

The belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Realistic group conflict theory

The theory that prejudice develops when groups compete for limited resources, such as jobs, money, or opportunities

Social dominance orientation

The desire for one's own group to have power and dominance over other groups.

Authoritarian personality

A personality type characterized by strong obedience to authority and intolerance toward people considered different or lower in status.

Stereotype threat

Anxiety about being judged according to a negative stereotype about your group, which can negatively affect performance.

Subtyping

Treating someone who doesn't fit a stereotype as an exception rather than changing the stereotype.

Subgrouping

Creating a separate category or stereotype for individuals who don't fit the original stereotype.

Equal-status contact

Interaction between members of different groups who meet on equal terms, which can help reduce prejudice.

Superordinate goal

A shared goal that requires different groups to cooperate and work together.

Moral exclusion

Viewing certain individuals or groups as outside the circle of people who deserve fairness, respect, and moral consideration.

Relative deprivation

Feeling disadvantaged because you believe you have less than other people you compare yourself with.

Social Identity

The part of your self-concept that comes from the groups you belong to.

Aggression

Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt another person.

Hostile aggression

Aggression driven by anger, with the main goal of hurting someone.

Instrumental aggression

Aggression used as a means to achieve another goal, rather than simply to hurt someone.

Physical aggression

Hurting another person's body, such as hitting, kicking, or pushing.

Social aggression

Hurting someone's feelings, reputation, or relationships. Examples include exclusion, rumors, and cyberbullying.

Frustration

When something blocks you from achieving a goal.

Frustration-aggression theory

The theory that frustration creates a readiness or tendency to behave aggressively.

Displacement

Redirecting aggression away from the person or situation that caused the frustration toward a different, often safer, target.

Catharsis

The idea that releasing aggressive feelings through aggressive behavior or fantasies reduces the desire to be aggressive.

Testosterone

A hormone found in higher average levels in males than females that is associated with dominance and aggression.

Social contagion

The phenomenon where emotions, behaviors, or attitudes spread among individuals in a group, often leading to conformity or heightened emotional states.

Social learning theory

The theory that people learn behaviors by observing and imitating others and through rewards and punishments.

Instinctive behavior

An innate behavior that is not learned and is generally exhibited by members of a species.

Evolutionary psychology

The study of how natural selection and evolution have influenced human thinking and behavior.

Natural selection

The evolutionary process in which inherited traits that help organisms survive and reproduce become more common over generations.

Suggestibility(mimicry)

The tendency to accept and act on the suggestions of others, often leading to changes in memory, belief, or behavior.

Mood linkage

Mood linkage refers to the tendency for individuals to synchronize their emotions with those of others, often resulting in a shared emotional state within a group.

The chameleon effect

The chameleon effect is a social phenomenon where individuals automatically mimic the behaviors, gestures, and mannerisms of others, promoting social bonding and cohesion.

Interaction effect

An interaction effect occurs when the effect of one independent variable on a dependent variable changes depending on the level of another independent variable, revealing how variables interrelate in an experimental context. (Confounding Variable)

Tokenism

Tokenism refers to the practice of making only a symbolic effort to include members of marginalized groups, often resulting in superficial representation without genuine inclusion or support.

Moral licensing 

Moral licensing is a psychological phenomenon where a person feels justified in engaging in negative or unethical behavior because they have previously exhibited moral behavior, creating a false sense of moral superiority.

Lowball technique

The lowball technique is a persuasion strategy where an agreement is obtained at a low cost or commitment level, which is then followed by a request for a higher commitment, often leading to increased compliance.

Two-sided appeal

A persuasive strategy that addresses both sides of an argument by presenting opposing viewpoints while ultimately reinforcing the desired message.

Two-step flow of communication

A model of communication that suggests messages are transmitted from media to opinion leaders, who then pass them on to the wider audience, highlighting the influence of interpersonal relationships on media effects.

Poison parasite counter

A strategy in persuasive communication that pairs a message with a counter-message to enhance its effectiveness and counteract opposing arguments. (Joe Chemo)

Descriptive norms

Descriptive norms refer to perceptions of what behaviors are typically carried out by others in a social group. They can influence individuals' behavior by providing information on how to act in similar situations. what to do

Injunctive norms

Social standards derived from observations of behaviors within a group, indicating what is commonly done.(How people ought to behavior)

Norm of reciprocity

The norm of reciprocity is a social principle that suggests individuals should respond to each other's actions with similar behavior, often leading to mutual exchanges of favors or benefits. (Eye for an Eye)

Arousal

Arousal refers to a physiological and psychological state of being awake and alert, which can affect an individual's performance and emotions in various situations.

Group polarization

the phenomenon where group discussions lead to more extreme positions or opinions, often enhancing the group's existing tendencies.

Accentuation effect

The accentuation effect refers to the tendency for individuals in a group to exaggerate their differences from other groups while emphasizing their similarities within their own group. This can lead to increased stereotypes and group identity. Tend to be smarter from Big Brain College