psych
person percep-
tion
how we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of
behavior.
2. attribution theo-
ry
the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation
(a situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional
attribution).
3. fundamental at-
tribution error
the tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the
impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.
4. actor-observer
bias
the tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external
causes, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal causes. This con-
tributes to the fundamental attribution error (which focuses on our explanations
for others’ behavior).
5. prejudice an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members.
Prejudice generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a pre-
disposition to discriminatory action.
6. stereotype a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a
group of people.
7. discrimination unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members.
8. just-world phe-
nomenon
the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get
what they deserve and deserve what they get.
9. social identity the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that
comes from our group memberships.
10. ingroup “us”—people with whom we share a common identity.
11. outgroup “them”—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.
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12. ingroup bias the tendency to favor our own group.
13. scapegoat theory the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to
blame.
14. other-race effect the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other
races. Also called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias.
15. attitudes feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a
particular way to objects, people, and events.
16. foot-in-the-door
phenomenon
the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later
with a larger request.
17. role a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the
position ought to behave.
18. cognitive disso-
nance theory
the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of
our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware
that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance
by changing our attitudes.
19. persuasion changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions.
20. peripheral route
persuasion
occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attrac-
tiveness.
21. central route per-
suasion
occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence
and arguments.
22. norms a society’s understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe
“proper” behavior in individual and social situations.
23. conformity adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.
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24. normative social
influence
influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.
25. informational so-
cial influence
influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about
reality.
26. obedience complying with an order or a command.
27. social facilitation in the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks,
and worsened performance on difficult tasks.
28. 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.
29. deindividuation the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that
foster arousal and anonymity.
30. group polariza-
tion
the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within
the group.
31. groupthink the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-mak-
ing group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.
32. culture the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group
of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
33. tight culture a place with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms.
34. loose culture a place with flexible and informal norms.
35. aggression any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotion-
ally.
36. the principle that frustration — the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal
— creates anger, which can generate aggression.
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frustration-ag-
gression
principle
37. social script a culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.
38. mere exposure ef-
fect
the tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them.
39. passionate love an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the
beginning of a romantic relationship.
40. companionate
love
the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are
intertwined.
41. equity a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they
give to it.
42. altruism unselfish regard for the welfare of others.
43. bystander effect the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders
are present.
44. social exchange
theory
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to
maximize benefits and minimize costs.
45. reciprocity norm an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.
46. social-responsi-
bility norm
an expectation that people will help those needing their help.
47. conflict a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.
48. social trap a situation in which two parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather than
the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.
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49. mirror-image
perceptions
mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each side sees itself as
ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive.
50. self-fulfilling
prophecy
a belief that leads to its own fulfillment.
51. superordinate
goals
shared goals that override differences among people and require their coopera-
tion.
52. GRIT Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction; a strategy designed
to decrease international tensions.
53. personality an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
54. psychodynamic
theories
theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious mind and the
importance of childhood experiences.
55. psychoanalysis
(theory)
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious
motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by
seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.
56. unconscious according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings,
and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing
of which we are unaware.
57. free association in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person
relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.
58. id a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to sat-
isfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle,
demanding immediate gratification.
59. ego
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the partly conscious, “executive”part of personality that, according to Freud, me-
diates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality. The ego operates
on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring
pleasure rather than pain.
60. superego the partly conscious part of personality that, according to Freud, represents
internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for
future aspirations.
61. defense mecha-
nisms
in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by
unconsciously distorting reality.
62. repression in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from con-
sciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
63. collective uncon-
scious
Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our
species’ history.
64. terror-manage-
ment theory
a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral
responses to reminders of their impending death.
65. Thematic Apper-
ceptionTest (TAT)
a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through
the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.
66. projective test a personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images
designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics and explore the precon-
scious and unconscious mind.
67. Rorschach
inkblot test
a projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner
feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots.
68. humanistic theo-
ries
theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal
growth.
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69. hierarchy of
needs
Maslow’s levels of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs.
Often visualized as a pyramid, with needs nearer the base taking priority until they
are satisfied.
70. self-actualization according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after
basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the
motivation to fulfill one’s potential.
71. self-transcen-
dence
according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the
self.
72. unconditional
positive regard
a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would
help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance. (Also known as uncon-
ditional regard.)
73. self-concept all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who
am I?”
74. trait a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways,
as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.
75. personality in-
ventory
a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people
respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used
to assess selected personality traits.
76. Minnesota Mul-
tiphasic Person-
ality Inventory
(MMPI)
the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally
developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate
use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.
77. empirically de-
rived test
a test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that
discriminate between groups.
78. Big Five factors
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five traits — openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neu-
roticism — that describe personality. (Also called the five-factor model.)
79. social-cognitive
perspective
a view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (in-
cluding their thinking) and their social context.
80. behavioral ap-
proach
focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.
81. reciprocal deter-
minism
the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.
82. self in modern psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of
our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
83. spotlight effect overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and
blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).
84. self-esteem our feelings of high or low self-worth.
85. self-efficacy our sense of competence and effectiveness.
86. self-serving bias a readiness to perceive ourselves favorably.
87. narcissism excessive self-love and self-absorption.
88. individualism a cultural pattern that emphasizes people’s own goals over group goals and
defines identity mainly in terms of unique personal attributes.
89. collectivism a cultural pattern that prioritizes the goals of important groups (often one’s
extended family or work group).
90. motivation a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.
91. instinct
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a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is un-
learned.
92. physiological
need
a basic bodily requirement.
93. drive-reduction
theory
the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates
an organism to satisfy the need.
94. homeostasis a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any
aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.
95. incentive a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.
96. Yerkes-Dodson
law
the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond
which performance decreases.
97. affiliation need the need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group.
98. self-determina-
tion theory
the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy,
and relatedness.
99. intrinsic motiva-
tion
the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.
100. extrinsic motiva-
tion
the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened
punishment.
101. ostracism deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.
102. achievement mo-
tivation
a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control,
and for attaining a high standard.
103. grit in psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.
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104. glucose the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of
energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.
105. set point the point at which the “weight thermostat” may be set. When the body falls below
this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to
restore lost weight.
106. basal metabolic
rate
the body’s resting rate of energy output.
107. obesity defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher, which is
calculated from our weight-to-height ratio. (Individuals who are overweight have
a BMI of 25 or higher.)
108. emotion a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal,(2) expres-
sive behaviors, and, most importantly, (3) conscious experience resulting from
one’s interpretations.
109. polygraph a machine used in attempts to detect lies; measures emotion-linked changes in
perspiration, heart rate, and breathing.
110. facial feedback ef-
fect
the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear,
anger, or happiness.
111. behavior feed-
back effect
the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and
actions.