chap 11 Flashcards
Social psychology
the study of how people think about influence and relate to other people
Bystander effect
the tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to be less likely to help when other people are present than when the observer is alone
Social cognition
the area of social psychology exploring how people select , interpret , remember , and use social information
Person perception
the processes by which an individual uses social stimuli to form impressions of others
Stereotype
A generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that the expectations are realized
Stereotype threat
An individual’s fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group
Attribution theory
The view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior
Fundamental attribution error
Observers overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another person’s behavior
Self-serving bias
the tendency to take credit for one’s successes and to deny responsiblility for one’s failures
False consensus effect
is the overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way they do
Positive illusions
favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality
Social comparison
the process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts , feelings , behaviors and ablilities in relation to others
attitudes
An individual’s opinions and beliefs about people , objects , and ideas - how we feel about the world.
Cognitive dissonance
An individual’s psychological discomfort ( dissonance ) caused by two inconsistent thoughts
Self-perception theory
Bem’s theory on how behaviors influence attitudes stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perseiving their behavior
Persuasion
involves trying to change someone’s attitude and often behavior as well
Elaboration likelihood model
Theory identifying two ways to persuade ; a central route and a peripheral route
Central route
works by engaging the audience thoughtfully with a sound , logical argument.
Peripheral route
involves factors such as the attractiveness of the person giving the message or the emotional power of an appeal