social psychology

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Social Thinking

how we perceive ourselves and others, what we believe, judgments we make, and our attitudes

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

Fritz Heider

father of attribution theory

dispositional attribution

attributing behavior to the person's disposition and traits

situational attribution

attribution to factors external to an actor, such as the task, other people, or luck

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Philip Zimbardo

1933-present; Field: social psychology; Contributions: proved that peoples behavior depends to a large extent on the roles they are asked to play; Studies: Stanford Prison Study-studied power of social roles to influence people's behavior

Stanford Prison Experiment

Philip Zimbardo's study of the effect of roles on behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to play either prisoners or guards in a mock prison. The study was ended early because of the "guards'" role-induced cruelty.

cognitive dissonance

Inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions

social influence

the effect that the words, actions, or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behavior

Conformity

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

chameleon effect

Natural (unconscious) tendency to imitate other peoples speech, inflections & physical movements

automatic mimicry

Psychological copying of actions or behaviors

Solomon Asch

Conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines.

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

informational social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality

Stanley Milgram

obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants; wanted to see if Germans were an aberration or if all people were capable of committing evil actions

social facilitation

improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Deindividuation

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

group polarization

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

group thinking

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

prejudice

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Microaggressions

common, everyday verbal or behavioral indignities and slights that communicate hostile, derogatory, and negative messages about someone's race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion

just-world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

outgroup

"them" - those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

scapegoat theory

the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

frustration-aggression principle

the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger which can generate aggression

social scripts (social learning)

possible that we learn to respond to events aggressively

Equity

a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it

self-disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

bystander effect

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

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

Reciprocity

the obligation to return in kind what another has done for us

social-responsibility norm

an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them

social trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

mirror-image perceptions

mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive

self-fulfilling prophecy

an expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true.

subordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

GRIT

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction - a strategy designed to decrease international tensions