Psych Vocab Quiz 2

Conformity - adjusting to one’s behavior to line up with a group’s unspoken rules, norms, and expectations.

Obedience - following direct commands usually from an authority figures.

Individualistic culture - culture that places value on the individual (ex. many European societies, USA)

Collectivist culture - culture that places value on the group (society, family, etc) (many Asian societies)

Multiculturalism - the idea that multiple cultures can coexist in a society, and that the majority and minority groups should actively support these cultural differences.

Group polarization - the phenomenon in which group interaction reinforces the majority point of view and shifts that view to a more extreme position.

Groupthink - Faulty decision-making that occurs when a highly cohesive group tries to stay in agreement and avoids critical thinking.

Social loafing - tendency for people to exert less effort in a group than when they are individually accountable.

Deindividuation - the loss of self-restraint when group members feel anonymous, being in a crowd reduces guilt and self-awareness.

Diffusion of responsibility - the phenomenon such that when there are multiple people present, each individual feels less of self-awareness.

Social facilitation - performing in front of a group causes well-known tasks to be done better than performing them alone.

False consensus effect - People often overestimate the extent to which other agree with them.

Superordinate goal - a goal that requires people of different backgrounds to work together, reducing stereotyping and negative attitudes toward each other.

Social trap - a situation in which people acting in their own self-interest cause the entire group to be worse off.

Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychologists - study of how people act at work, including the effects of managements practices, workplace relationships and culture, and burnout.

Prosocial behavior - behavior that benefits other people.

Altruism - unselfish actions that benefit others.

Social reciprocity norm - the unwritten rule that if people do something nice for you, you feel obligated to do something nice in return.

Social responsibility norm - the unwritten rule that one should assist those in need (esp. vulnerable groups such as children or the elderly) when possible.

Bystander effect - The more people witness a negative event, the less likely they are to help a person in need.