Social Psych
Attribution Theory & Person Perception
Attribution: The process of explaining the causes of behavior or events.
Dispositional Attribution: Explaining behavior based on internal traits or personality.
Situational Attribution: Explaining behavior based on external circumstances or environment.
Explanatory Style: A person's characteristic way of explaining why events happen.
Optimistic Explanatory Style: Seeing negative events as temporary, specific, and external.
Pessimistic Explanatory Style: Seeing negative events as permanent, pervasive, and personal.
Actor/Observer Bias: Attributing our own actions to situations, but others' actions to their personality.
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE): Overestimating personality traits and underestimating situational factors when judging others.
Self-Serving Bias: Taking credit for successes and blaming external factors for failures.
Internal Locus of Control: Believing you control your own destiny.
External Locus of Control: Believing outcomes are controlled by fate, luck, or outside forces.
Mere Exposure Effect: Developing a preference for things simply because they are familiar.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: A belief that causes itself to come true through expected behavior.
Social Comparison: Evaluating oneself by comparing against others.
Upward Social Comparison: Comparing yourself to people who are better off.
Downward Social Comparison: Comparing yourself to people who are worse off.
Relative Deprivation: Feeling deprived because you compare yourself unfavorably to others.
Attitude Formation & Attitude Change
Stereotype: A generalized belief about a group of people.
Cognitive Load: The amount of mental effort being used in working memory.
Prejudice: An unjustified negative attitude toward a group.
Discrimination: Unjustified negative behavior toward a group.
Implicit Attitudes: Automatic, unconscious beliefs or attitudes.
Just-World Phenomenon: The belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias: Viewing out-group members as "all the same."
In-Group Bias: Favoring members of your own group over others.
Ethnocentrism: Judging another culture solely by the standards of your own.
Belief Perseverance: Sticking to a belief even after it has been disproven.
Confirmation Bias: Seeking out information that proves what you already believe.
Cognitive Dissonance: Mental discomfort caused by holding conflicting beliefs or actions.
Psychology of Social Situations
Social Norms: Unwritten rules for acceptable behavior in a society.
Social Influence Theory: The study of how individuals adjust their thoughts and actions due to social pressure.
Normative Social Influence: Conforming to gain approval or avoid rejection.
Informational Social Influence: Conforming because you believe others have accurate information.
Persuasion: The process of guiding people toward adopting an attitude or behavior.
Elaboration Likelihood Model: A theory explaining how attitudes are formed via central or peripheral routes.
Central Route: Persuasion based on strong arguments, evidence, and logic.
Peripheral Route: Persuasion based on superficial cues like attractiveness or emotional appeal.
Halo Effect: Letting one positive trait bias your overall impression of a person.
Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Getting agreement to a small request before asking for a larger one.
Door-in-the-Face Technique: Making a large, unreasonable request first so a smaller follow-up request is accepted.
Conformity: Adjusting behavior or thinking to match group standards.
Obedience: Complying with direct orders from an authority figure.
Individualism: Prioritizing personal goals over group goals.
Collectivism: Prioritizing group goals and harmony over personal goals.
Multiculturalism: Coexistence and equal respect for diverse cultural backgrounds.
Group Polarization: Group discussions making pre-existing attitudes more extreme.
Groupthink: Prioritizing group consensus over realistic decision-making.
Diffusion of Responsibility: Feeling less personally responsible when others are present.
Social Loafing: Exerting less effort when working in a group than when alone.
Deindividuation: Loss of self-awareness and restraint in anonymous group settings.
Social Facilitation: Performing better on simple tasks when others are watching.
False Consensus Effect: Overestimating how much others agree with your beliefs.
Superordinate Goals: Shared goals that require cooperation between competing groups.
Social Traps: Situations where conflicting parties pursuit self-interest, leading to mutual harm.
Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychologists: Psychologists who study human behavior in workplace settings.
Burnout: Physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged stress.
Altruism: Unselfish concern for the welfare of others.
Prosocial Behavior: Actions intended to help or benefit others.
Social Debt: Feeling obligated to repay someone who has helped you.
Social Reciprocity Norm: The expectation to help those who have helped you.
Social Responsibility Norm: The expectation to help those in need, regardless of payback.
Bystander Effect: Being less likely to help someone when other onlookers are present.
Situational Variability: Changes in behavior depending on the specific context or setting.
Attentional Variability: Differences in how individuals allocate focus or attention across situations.