Psychology Terms 2

Social psychology

the study of how other people change how you think, feel, and act

Fundamental attribution error

overestimates the influence personality has on behavior and disregards the circumstance

Foot in the door phenomenon

small behaviours built upon other small behaviors alter your belief 

Cognitive dissonance theory

when your beliefs don't match your actions, you excuse your beliefs

Conformity

adjusting your behavior, thoughts, or beliefs to match a group standard or unspoken social pressure

Milgram’s Study on Obedience

experiment that measured how willing people are to obey an authority figure (teachers, and shocks)

Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment

tested how people react to roles of authority and powerlessness (prisoners, and guards)

Ash’s Study on Conformity

study showed how people are willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer to conform to group pressure

Social loafing

you let everybody else do it

Deindividuation

disregard your belief to go along with the group — “well everyone else”

Group polarization

the more you're around like-minded people, the more solidified you become in your belief

Prejudice

a negative feeling or judgment about someone just because they belong to a certain group

Stereotype

a fixed, oversimplified, and generalized belief about a specific group of people

Discrimination

treating a person or group unfairly because of their differences

Scapegoat theory

concept that people unfairly blame an innocent person or marginalized group for their own problems, frustrations, or failures

Bystander effect

you assume somebody else is going to do it

Self-fulfilling prophecy

your initial beliefs regarding a situation or individual influences your behaviour

Altruism

helping other people just because you care, without wanting anything in return.

Groupthink

nobody wants to be the contrary voice/opinion 

Other-race effect

where people easily recognize faces from their own racial group but struggle to tell apart faces from other racial groups

Social exchange theory

suggests that humans evaluate their social relationships and interactions using a mental cost-benefit analysis, seeking to maximize rewards while minimizing costs.

Social-responsibility norm

a societal expectation that people must help others who need assistance, even if there is no reward or payback

Normative social influence

when people change their behavior to fit in with a group because they want to be liked, accepted, and avoid social rejection

Ingroup

a social group that you belong to and emotionally identify with as a part of your personal identity

Attribution Theory

explains how people interpret and assign causes to their own behavior and the actions of others.

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior that is intended to cause harm or distress to another person who is motivated to avoid that harm

Social Facilitation

the tendency for people to perform better on simple or well-practiced tasks when other people are present

Frustration-aggression principle

when something blocks you from reaching an important goal, you feel frustrated, and that frustration creates anger which makes aggressive behavior more likely

Just-world phenomenon

a cognitive bias where people believe the world is fundamentally fair, meaning good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people

Attitude

your overall evaluation or judgment of a person, place, thing, or idea as being positive, negative, or mixed

Ingroup bias

the psychological tendency to favor, trust, and give preferential treatment to members of one's own social group over those outside of it

Mere exposure effect

a psychological phenomenon where people tend to develop a preference for a person, object, or stimulus simply because it is familiar and they have been repeatedly exposed to it