Ch. 12 - Social Behavior

Question 1

Social psychology is concerned with…

Answer 1

the way individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by others

Question 2

Person perception is the process of…

Answer 2

forming impressions of others

Question 3

Illusory correlation occurs when…

Answer 3

people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have actually seen
—Ex. “I have never met an honest lawyer”

Question 4

Ingroup is a group that…

Answer 4

one belongs to and identifies with— tend to be viewed in a favorable light

Question 5

Outgroup is a group that…

Answer 5

one does not belong to or identify with— tend to be viewed in terms of negative stereotypes

Question 6

Attributions are interferences that…

Individuals make attributions because…

Answer 6

people draw about the causes of events, others’ behavior, and their own behavior
—Ex. conclude that your friend declined your invitation because she is overworked

Individuals make attributions because they have a strong need to understand their experiences

Question 7

Internal attributions ascribe the causes of behavior to…

Answer 7

personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings
—Ex. if your friend’s business fails and you attribute it to their lack of business skills, you get a bad grade and you say “I’m stupid”

Question 8

External attributions ascribe the causes of behavior to…

Answer 8

situational demands and environmental constraints
—Ex. if you attribute your friend’s business failing to the nation’s economic climate – this takes more effort so it’s LESS common than internal attributions

Question 9

Fundamental attribution error refers to the…

Answer 9

observers’ bias in FAVOR of internal attributions in explaining others behavior – this process is basically effortless whereas explaining someone’s behavior in terms of situational factors take significantly more effort

Question 10

Self-serving bias is the tendency to…

Answer 10

attribute one’s success to personal factors (internal) and one’s failure to environmental factors (external)

Question 11

Individualism involves…

Answer 11

putting goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group membership

Question 12

Collectivism involves…

Answer 12

putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one’s identity in terms of the groups one belongs to

Question 13

Interpersonal attraction refers to…

Answer 13

positive feelings toward another person

Question 14

Matching hypothesis proposes that…

Answer 14

males and females of approximately equal attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners

Question 15

Attitude alignment is when people…

Answer 15

people who are close gradually modify their attitudes in ways that make them more congruent

Question 16

Reciprocity is… and is driven by…

Answer 16

liking those who like us and is driven by positive feedback

Question 17

Passionate love is the…

and is associated with…

Answer 17

complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion— associated with large swings in positive and negative emotion

Question 18

Compassionate love is…

Answer 18

warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another whose life is deeply intertwined with one’s own

Question 19

The Cognitive component of attitudes is made up of: (1)

Answer 19

beliefs that a person hold about the object

Question 20

The Affective component of attitudes are: (1)

Answer 20

emotions/what you feel

Question 21

The Behavioral component of attitudes are: (1)

Answer 21

predispositions to act in certain ways toward an object

Question 22

Explicit attitudes are attitudes that…

Answer 22

one holds and can readily describe

Question 23

Implicit attitudes…

Answer 23

covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses over which one has little conscious control

Question 24

Mere exposure effect is the finding that…

Answer 24

repeated exposure to a stimulus promotes greater liking of the stimulus
—Ex. study whether a word represented something good or bad and findings showed that the more they were exposed to it the more favorable they rated it

Question 25

Cognitive dissonance exists when related…

Answer 25

attitudes or beliefs contradict each other— sheds light on why some people come to believe their own lies
need to realign themselves

Question 26

A study of Cognitive dissonance’s made by…

Which entailed…

Answer 26

Festinger
Study entailed: giving people the most boring task then a questionnaire about the level of enjoyability (scores were low) – then paid one group $20 and one group $1 to tell the next group that it wasn’t that bad – the people paid $1 to lie rated the task higher after lying because $1 is not that much incentive – $20 rated it the same

Question 27

Conformity occurs when…

Answer 27

people yield to real or imagined social pressure
—Ex. if you were to maintain your lawn only to avoid complaints/comments from your neighbors – no one has to put pressure on you, just what you think may happen or be said – avoids discomfort – usually a positive thing (following a crowd when the fire alarm goes off to find the exit)

Question 28

Normative influence operates when…

Answer 28

people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences—all about being liked

Question 29

Informative influence operates when…

Answer 29

people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations—all about being right

Question 30

Obedience to authority was studied by…

Answer 30

Stanley Milgram

Question 31

Social roles are…

Answer 31

widely shared expectations about how people in certain positions are supposed to behave

Question 32

Social loafing is the…

Answer 32

reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared when they work by themselves— diffusion of responsibility

Question 33

Group polarization occurs when…

Answer 33

the group discussion strengthens a group’s dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction

Question 34

Groupthink occurs when…

Answer 34

members of a cohesive group emphasize the concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision—does not produce effective decision-making
—Ex. someone is explaining something wrong and you don’t speak up because you don’t want to cause tension

Question 35

Group facilitation is an…

Answer 35

increased performance when others are watching/will be judging— only works when someone has high expertise otherwise they will likely choke under pressure