Psychological Concepts and Studies

Asch Conformity Study

  • A 1950 experiment by Solomon Asch.
  • Demonstrates how group pressure affects conformity.
  • Focuses on situations where an individual's perception differs from the group's.

Altruism

  • Selflessly helping others for their well-being.
  • Done without regard for personal gain.

Anchoring Effect

  • A cognitive bias.
  • Humans rely too heavily on the first piece of information presented.

Bystander Effect

  • People are less likely to help someone when others are present compared to when they are alone.
  • Related to diffusion of responsibility.
  • Diffusion of responsibility: People believe someone else will intervene, so they don’t have to.

Bobo Doll Experiment

  • 1960s experiment by Albert Bandura.
  • Demonstrates how children learn aggressive behaviors by observing others.
  • Children mimic aggressive behavior when they witness adults being aggressive towards the Bobo doll.

Cognitive Dissonance

  • Psychological discomfort resulting from two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.
  • Conflicting beliefs lead to unease.
  • People often change their beliefs or behaviors to resolve the conflict.

Conformity

  • The tendency to change your beliefs and behaviors to align with the group or majority.
  • Driven by the desire to be accepted or avoid punishment.

Collectivism

  • Prioritizing the group’s interests over your own.
  • Encourages shared identity and social harmony.

Group Polarization

  • Group discussions with like-minded people reinforce more extreme opinions.

Diffusion of Responsibility

  • Individuals feel less responsible to help others when there are others present.

Heuristics

  • Mental shortcuts that cause people to make quick judgments.
  • Often contain biases or errors.

Halo Effect

  • A bias where a positive first impression leads someone to have a more favorable overall judgment of that person.

Heat Hypothesis

  • Aggression increases when the weather is hot.

Stanford Prison Experiment

  • A 1971 study by Philip Zimbardo.
  • College-age men were assigned to play the roles of guards and prisoners in a simulated prison.
  • It was ended early due to abusive treatment.
  • Highlighted power dynamics and how people conform to roles.

Transactional Leadership

  • A leadership style that uses a system of rewards and punishments to motivate and structure followers.

Milgram Obedience Study

  • A 1961 study ran by Stanley Milgram.
  • Participants were tasked with administering increasingly powerful shocks to a learner.
  • Highlighted the power of authority and how obedience works.

Misinformation Effect

  • Being exposed to false information can alter what people remember happening in an event.

Pygmalion Effect

  • A psychological phenomenon where high expectations lead to better performance.

Pyramid Schemes

  • A business that functions by recruiting new members to sell products.

Obedience

  • One’s willingness to comply with commands from authority.

Reciprocity

  • Exchanging things with mutual benefit in mind.

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

  • The hypothesis that frustration will build until it results in aggression.

Social Norms

  • The standards established by a society.
  • Often unwritten, of which its members are expected to comply.

System 1 Thinking

  • Automatic and unconscious.
  • Based on instincts or heuristics.
  • More likely to lead to bias or errors.

System 2 Thinking

  • Deliberate and conscious.
  • Requires effort and reasoning.
  • Less likely to result in bias or errors.

Self Disclosure

  • The process of passing information about yourself to someone else.
  • Can be superficial or personal.

Self Efficacy

  • An individual’s belief regarding their capacity to execute behaviors in necessary ways.

Social Loafing

  • The phenomenon where individuals put in less effort into a project when they are working with a group.

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

  • Intimacy, passion, and commitment are the foundations of love.
    • With just passion and commitment, you have fatuous love:
      • Windwhirl love, a sudden courtship without intimacy established.
    • With just intimacy and commitment, you have compassionate love:
      • Often found in long relationships where passion is no longer found, but there is still deep love and commitment with the person.
    • With just intimacy and passion, you have romantic love:
      • Where a bond is present both emotionally and physically, but no commitment has been made yet.
    • With all three, you have consummate love:
      • Which is the complete or ideal form of love.

Social Facilitation

  • A phenomenon where individuals perform better when being observed doing easy tasks, but perform worse when being observed doing hard tasks.

Self Concept

  • One’s self-constructed beliefs they hold about themselves.