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Social Psychology Study Guide

Dispositional (Internal) Attribution – Explaining behavior based on personal traits.
- Example: "He failed the test because he's lazy."
Situational (External) Attribution – Explaining behavior based on external factors.
- Example: "He failed the test because he was sick."

Actor-Observer Bias:
- We blame our actions on the situation (external) but blame others on their personality (internal).
- Example: If I trip, it's because the floor was slippery; if someone else trips, they're clumsy.
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE):
- Overestimating personality and underestimating the situation when explaining others’ behavior.
- Example: Assuming a rude cashier is a bad person rather than considering they had a rough day.

Explanatory Style: The way people habitually explain life events (optimistic vs. pessimistic).
Locus of Control:
- Internal Locus – Belief that personal effort controls outcomes.
- External Locus – Belief that outside forces (luck, fate) control outcomes.

Elaboration Likelihood Model:
- Central Route: Deep thinking, evidence-based. Example: Buying a car based on research.
- Peripheral Route: Superficial cues (celebrity endorsements, attractiveness).

Halo Effect:
- The tendency to assume attractive or likable people have other good qualities.
Foot-in-the-Door Technique:
- Getting someone to agree to a small request makes them more likely to agree to a larger request later.
- Example: Asking for a small donation before asking for a larger one.
Door-in-the-Face Technique:
- Asking for a big favor first, expecting rejection, then requesting something smaller (which seems more reasonable).
- Example: Asking for $100, getting rejected, then asking for $20 instead.

We feel discomfort when our attitudes and behaviors conflict, so we adjust one to reduce the discomfort.
- Example: A smoker knows smoking is harmful → Justifies it by saying "I'm stressed, so it's worth it."

Belief Perseverance: Holding onto beliefs despite contradictory evidence.
Confirmation Bias: Seeking information that supports our beliefs and ignoring opposing evidence.

Implicit (Internal) Bias: Unconscious prejudices that affect our behavior.
Ingroup Bias: Favoring our own group.
Outgroup Homogeneity Bias: Seeing members of another group as "all the same."
Ethnocentrism: Viewing one’s culture as superior.
Just-World Phenomenon: Believing the world is fair and people get what they deserve (victim-blaming).

Normative vs. Informational Influence:
- Normative: Conforming to fit in (peer pressure).
- Informational: Conforming because you believe others are correct.
Asch's Conformity Experiment:
- Line test – People conformed to incorrect group answers.
Milgram's Obedience Experiment:
- Participants followed authority figures and delivered (fake) shocks to a learner.
Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment:
- Demonstrated how roles and situational factors can influence behavior.

Group Polarization:
- Discussions strengthen preexisting beliefs. Example: Political groups becoming more extreme.
Groupthink:
- Desire for harmony leads to poor decision-making. Example: NASA’s Challenger disaster.
Social Loafing:
- People put in less effort in group tasks. Example: Slacking in a group project.
Deindividuation:
- Loss of self-awareness in group settings (riots, online trolls).
Diffusion of Responsibility:
- Assuming others will take action, leading to inaction.

Social Facilitation:
- Presence of others improves performance on easy tasks, worsens it on difficult ones.
False Consensus Effect:
- Overestimating how much others agree with us.
Superordinate Goals:
- Shared goals that require cooperation between groups.
Altruism:
- Selfless concern for others.

Bystander Effect:
- People are less likely to help when others are present.
Best Odds of Helping Someone Occur When:
1. We see someone else helping.
2. The person seems deserving.
3. We are not in a rush.
4. We feel guilty.
5. We are in a good mood.