Chapter 11 Flashcards
social psychology
how people think about, influence, and relate to others.
bystander effect
An individual who observes an emergency tends to be less likely to help when other people are present than when the observer is alone.
social cognition
how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information.
stereotype
A generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider 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 their 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 theory
Observers overestimate the importance of internal traits and underestimate the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another person’s behavior.
attitudes
An individual’s opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas—how the person feels about the world.
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
guards acted sadistically towards prisoners, and prisoners became docile and lost their sense of self
cognitive dissonance
An individual’s psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts.
elaboration likelihood model
Theory identifies two ways to persuade: central and peripheral routes.
altruism
Giving to another person with the ultimate goal of benefiting that person, even if it incurs a cost to oneself.
egosim
Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid social and self-censure for failing to live up to society’s expectations.
empathy
A feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person.
aggression
Social behavior that aims to harm someone, either physically or verbally.
overt agression
Physical or verbal behavior that directly harms another person.
relational aggression
Behavior that is meant to harm the social standing of another person.
mere exposure effect
the more individuals encounter someone or something, the more probable it is that they will start liking the person or thing even if they do not realize they have seen it before.
social exchange theory
The view of social relationships as involving an exchange of goods, the objective of which is to minimize costs and maximize benefits.
conformity
A change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard.
informational social influence
The influence other people have on us because we want to be right
normative social influence
The influence other people have on us because we want them to like us.
obedience
Behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority.
milligrams study of obedience
delivered a series of electric shocks to another person when they made mistakes, increasing the intensity of the shock each time. The learner has a heart condition and is in pain, but the person shocking is too old to continue.
deindividuation
The reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group.
social contagion
Imitative behavior involving spreading behavior, emotions, and ideas.
social facilitation
Improvement in an individual’s performance because of the presence of others.
social loafing
Each person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.
groupthink
The impaired group decision-making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony.
prejudice
An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual’s membership in a group.
systemic racism
Systems, structures, and procedures in a society that disadvantage a racial group and privilege another.
microaggressions
Every day, subtle and potentially unintentional acts that communicate bias to members of marginalized groups.
discrimination
Every day, subtle and potentially unintentional acts that communicate bias to members of marginalized groups.
