Chapter 11: Social Psychology

Question 1

Social psychology

Answer 1

The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people

Question 2

Bystander effect

Answer 2

The tendency of an individual who observes and emergency to be less likely to help when other people are present than when the observer is alone

Question 3

Social cognition

Answer 3

The area of social psychology exploring how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information

Question 4

Stereotype

Answer 4

A generalization about a group’s characteristics that doesn’t consider any variation from one individual to another

Question 5

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 5

Social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that the expectations are realized

Question 6

Stereotype threat

Answer 6

An individual’s fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about their group

Question 7

Attribution theory

Answer 7

The view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior

Question 8

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 8

Observers’ overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another persons behavior

Question 9

Attitudes

Answer 9

An individual’s opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas- how the person feels about the world

Question 10

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 10

An individual’s psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts

Question 11

Elaboration likelihood model

Answer 11

Theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route. The central route works by engaging the audience with a sound, logical argument. The peripheral route involves factors such as the attractiveness of the person presenting the argument, or the level of emotional appeal.

Question 12

Altruism

Answer 12

Giving to another person with the ultimate goal of benefiting that person, even if it incurs a cost to oneself

Question 13

Egoism

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Empathy

Answer 14

A feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person

Question 15

Aggression

Answer 15

Social behavior whose objective is to harm someone, either physically or verbally

Question 16

Overt aggression

Answer 16

Physical or verbal behavior that directly harms another person

Question 17

Relational aggression

Answer 17

Behavior that is meant to harm the social standing of another person

Question 18

Mere exposure effect

Answer 18

The phenomenon that 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 they have seen it before

Question 19

Social exchange theory

Answer 19

The view of social relationships as involving the exchange of good, the objective of which is to minimize cost and maximize benefits

Question 20

Conformity

Answer 20

A change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard

Question 21

Informational social influence

Answer 21

The influence other people have on us because we want to be right

Question 22

Normative social influence

Answer 22

The influence other people have on us because we want them to like us

Question 23

Obedience

Answer 23

Behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority

Question 24

Milgram’s obedience experiment

Answer 24

Experiment where shocks are administered to a subject when answers are incorrect. The shocks are fake but the subject administering the shock’s is unaware. The subject being shocked complains of pain and eventually becomes unresponsive, but the designer of the experiment tells you that the experiment must go on. Most people deliver the highest intensity of shocks.

Question 25

Deindividualization

Answer 25

The reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group

Question 26

Social contagion

Answer 26

Imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior, emotion, and ideas

Question 27

Social facilitation

Answer 27

Improvement in an individual’s performance because of the presence of others

Question 28

Social loafing

Answer 28

Each person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for an individual effort

Question 29

Groupthink

Answer 29

The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony

Question 30

Prejudice

Answer 30

An unjustified negative attitude towards an individual based on the individual’s membership in a group

Question 31

Systemic racism

Answer 31

Systems, structures, and procedures in a society that disadvantage a racial group and privilege another

Question 32

Microaggression

Answer 32

Everyday, subtle, and potentially unintentional acts that communicate bias to members of a marginalized group

Question 33

Discrimination

Answer 33

An unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group