Chapter 12

Question 1

social psychology (sociality)

Answer 1

The study of the causes and consequences of sociality.

Question 2

aggression

Answer 2

Behavior whose purpose is to harm another.

Question 3

frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 3

A principle stating that animals aggress only when their goals are thwarted.

Question 4

cooperation

Answer 4

Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit.

Question 5

group

Answer 5

A collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them from others.

Question 6

prejudice

Answer 6

A positive or negative evaluation of another person based on that person’s group membership.

Question 7

discrimination (behavior)

Answer 7

Positive or negative behavior toward another person based on that person’s group membership.

Question 8

deindividuation

Answer 8

A phenomenon that occurs when immersion in a group causes people to become less aware of their individual values.

Question 9

diffusion of responsibility

Answer 9

The tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way.

Question 10

altruism

Answer 10

Behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself.

Question 11

kin selection

Answer 11

The process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate their relatives.

Question 12

reciprocal altruism

Answer 12

Behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future.

Question 13

passionate love

Answer 13

An experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction.

Question 14

companionate love

Answer 14

An experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner’s well-being.

Question 15

social exchange

Answer 15

The hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as long as they perceive a favorable ratio of costs to benefits.

Question 16

social influence

Answer 16

The ability to control another person’s behavior.

Question 17

norm

Answer 17

A customary standard for behavior that is widely shared by members of a culture.

Question 18

normative influence

Answer 18

A phenomenon that occurs when another person’s behavior provides information about what is appropriate.

Question 19

norm of reciprocity

Answer 19

The unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have benefited them.

Question 20

door-in-the-face technique

Answer 20

A strategy that uses reciprocating concessions to influence behavior.

Question 21

conformity

Answer 21

The tendency to do what others do simply because others are doing it.

Question 22

obedience

Answer 22

The tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do.

Question 23

attitude

Answer 23

An enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event.

Question 24

belief

Answer 24

An enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event.

Question 25

informational influence

Answer 25

A phenomenon that occurs when a person’s behavior provides information about what is good or right.

Question 26

persuasion

Answer 26

A phenomenon that occurs when a person’s attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a communication from another person.

Question 27

systematic persuasion

Answer 27

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to reason.

Question 28

heuristic persuasion

Answer 28

The process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion.

Question 29

foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 29

A technique that involves a small request followed by a larger request.

Question 30

cognitive dissonance

Answer 30

An unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs.

Question 31

social cognition

Answer 31

The processes by which people come to understand others.

Question 32

stereotyping

Answer 32

The process by which people draw inferences about others based on their knowledge of the categories to which others belong.

Question 33

attribution

Answer 33

An inference about the cause of a person’s behavior.

Question 34

correspondence bias

Answer 34

The tendency to make a dispositional attribution even when a person’s behavior was caused by the situation.

Question 35

actor-observer effect

Answer 35

The tendency to make situational attributions for our own behaviors while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others.