Unit 4 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY CRASH SHEET

  1. Social Cognition (HOW YOU THINK ABOUT PEOPLE)
    Core idea: You react to your interpretation, not reality.
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    Key Terms
    Schema = mental framework (shortcut for categories)
    Heuristics = mental shortcuts for quick decisions
    Availability = "I remember it → must be common"; often influenced by recent experiences or the prominence of certain information in memory.
    Representativeness = "It looks like X → must be X"; reliance on stereotypes or prototypes that represent a category.
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    Attribution (WHY people act)
    Internal (dispositional) = personality traits influence behavior; can lead to overgeneralization.
    External (situational) = environmental influences; taking into account the context of actions.
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    Common Errors
    Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
    Others = personality; often ignores situational factors that influence others' behaviors.
    Actor-Observer Bias
    Me = situation, Others = personality; explains different perspectives on one's actions compared to others'.
    Self-Serving Bias
    Success = me, Failure = not me; protects self-esteem by attributing outcomes favorably.
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    Memory trick:
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    "Me good, others personality"; a mnemonic to remember biases in attribution.

  2. Attitudes & Dissonance
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    Cognitive Dissonance
    Feeling uncomfortable when actions ≠ beliefs; creates psychological stress.
    Fix it by:
    Change behavior; modify actions to align with beliefs.
    Change belief; re-evaluate personal beliefs to reduce dissonance.
    Justify it; rationalize the inconsistency to alleviate discomfort.
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    Example: "Cheating isn’t bad this time"; an example of rationalization during moral conflict.

  3. Persuasion
    Central Route = logic + thinking → STRONG attitudes; requires thoughtful consideration of arguments in persuasion.
    Peripheral Route = looks/emotions → WEAK attitudes; relies on superficial cues instead of content.
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    Memory:
    Central = careful analysis; Peripheral = influenced by emotional appeals.

  4. Social Influence
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    Conformity
    Normative = fit in; changing behavior to match group norms to gain social approval.
    - Informational = they know better; conforming because we believe others possess more knowledge.
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    Compliance
    Foot-in-the-door = small request followed by a larger one, leveraging commitment.
    Door-in-the-face = big request followed by a smaller, more reasonable one, utilizing contrast.
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    Obedience
    Following authority; a response to direct orders or commands from someone in power.
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    Difference:
    Conformity = group pressure;
    Compliance = explicit request;
    Obedience = authority figure.

  5. Group Behavior
    Social Facilitation
    Easy task → improved performance; presence of others boosts motivation and focus.
    Hard task → decreased performance; pressure may lead to anxiety and avoidance.
    Social Loafing
    Less effort in groups; individuals may rely on others to take charge.
    Group Polarization
    Opinions become stronger; discussion intensifies existing views rather than balancing them.
    Groupthink
    Bad decisions to keep peace; a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment within a group.

  6. Prejudice & Bias
    Stereotype = belief about a group; often oversimplified and generalized.
    Prejudice = feeling or attitude towards a group; typically negative and arises from stereotypes.
    Discrimination = action taken against a group; reflects behavioral manifestation of prejudice.
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    Key Concepts
    In-group bias = favor "us"; prioritizing one’s own group over others.
    Out-group homogeneity = "they’re all the same"; perceiving members of other groups as more alike than they are.
    Confirmation bias = only see what supports belief; filtering information to reinforce existing prejudices.
    Self-fulfilling prophecy = belief → becomes true; expectations influence performance in a way that reinforces those expectations.

  7. Helping & Aggression
    ❤
    Helping (Altruism)
    Steps:

  8. Notice; awareness of the event or situation

  9. Interpret; understand the need for help

  10. Take responsibility; feel accountable to help

  11. Know how; possess the skills to assist

  12. Help; engage in the act of helping others.
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    Bystander Effect
    More people = less helping; psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency when others are present.
    Diffusion of responsibility; responsibility dilutes among the group.
    Pluralistic ignorance; assuming others do not feel the need to act.

  13. Attraction
    Proximity = close increases likability; physical closeness often leads to relationship formation.
    Mere exposure = seeing more increases likability; frequent encounters foster affection.
    Similarity = BIGGEST factor; shared interests and values strengthen connections.
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    Opposites attract?
    ❌
    Not usually on tests; this is often a myth as similarity tends to drive attraction more than differences.

  14. The Self
    Self-concept = who you are; collection of beliefs about oneself.


Self-esteem = how you feel about yourself; assessment of self-worth and value.
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Locus of Control


Internal = I control my life; belief that outcomes are influenced by one’s own actions.
External = life controls me; belief that external forces govern outcomes.
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Spotlight Effect
→ "Everyone is watching me" (they’re not); overestimating the degree to which one’s actions and appearance are noted by others.