Social Psychology
The scientific study of how individuals think about, influence, and relate to one another in social contexts.

Attribution Theory
A theory that explains how people determine the causes of their own and others' behavior, often attributing them to internal or external factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and underestimate the role of situational factors when evaluating others' behavior.

Attitude
A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.

Peripheral Route Persuasion
A method of persuasion that relies on superficial cues and emotions rather than detailed arguments and logic.

Central Route Persuasion
A method of persuasion that involves carefully considering and processing the content of the message and its logical arguments.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
The tendency for people to comply with a large request after first agreeing to a smaller, more modest request.

Role
A set of expectations or norms about how people should behave in a specific social position.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory
The theory that people experience discomfort when holding conflicting cognitions, leading them to change their attitudes or behaviors to reduce this discomfort.

Conformity
Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to align with the group norms or expectations.

Normative Social Influence
Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval from others.

Informational Social Influence
Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality, often in uncertain situations.

Social Facilitation
The tendency for people to perform better on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

Social Loafing
The tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group compared to working alone.

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

Group Polarization
The tendency for a group's prevailing attitudes to become more extreme after discussion within the group.

Groupthink
A mode of thinking in which the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Culture
The shared values, beliefs, and practices of a group of people that influence behavior and social norms.

Norm
An accepted standard or expectation of behavior within a group or society.

Prejudice
An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members.

Stereotype
A generalized belief about a group of people that may not accurately reflect reality.

Discrimination
Unfair treatment of a person or group based on characteristics such as race, gender, or religion.

Just-World Phenomenon
The belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get, often leading to victim-blaming.

Ingroup
A group to which an individual perceives they belong and with which they identify.

Outgroup
A group that an individual does not belong to and may view as different or separate from their own group.

Ingroup Bias
The tendency to favor and give preferential treatment to members of one's own group over those in outgroups.

Scapegoat Theory
The theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Other-Race Effect
The tendency to recognize and remember faces of one's own race more accurately than those of other races.

Aggression
Behavior intended to harm or injure another person.

Frustration-Aggression Principle
The principle that frustration often leads to aggression, especially when individuals are blocked from achieving their goals.

Social Script
Culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations.

Mere Exposure Effect
The phenomenon whereby people tend to develop a preference for things they are exposed to repeatedly.

Passionate Love
Intense, emotional, and often sexual attraction to another person, typically marked by physical arousal and desire.

Companionate Love
A deep, affectionate attachment characterized by intimacy, commitment, and emotional support, often found in long-term relationships.

Equity
The condition in which people receive from a relationship what they put into it; fairness in giving and receiving.

Self-Disclosure
The process of revealing intimate and personal information about oneself to others.

Altruism
Unselfish concern for the welfare of others, often leading to helping behavior.

Bystander Effect
The phenomenon whereby individuals are less likely to help in an emergency situation when other people are present.

Social Exchange Theory
The theory that human interactions are based on maximizing benefits and minimizing costs in relationships.

Reciprocity Norm
The expectation that people will respond favorably to each other by returning benefits for benefits.

Social-Responsibility Norm
The expectation that people will help those who are dependent on them or in need, without expecting anything in return.

Conflict
A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas between individuals or groups.

Social Trap
A situation where individuals or groups act in their own self-interest, leading to a worse outcome for everyone involved.

Mirror-Image Perceptions
Mutual views often held by conflicting parties, where each side sees itself as ethical and the other as evil.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
A belief or expectation that influences a person to act in a way that causes the expectation to come true.

Superordinate Goals
Goals that require the cooperation of two or more groups to achieve, thereby reducing intergroup conflict.

GRIT (Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction)
A strategy for reducing conflict through small, gradual, and reciprocated conciliatory acts.

Self-Serving Bias
The tendency to attribute positive events to one's own character but attribute negative events to external factors.