Chapter 13

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 an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone

Question 3

Social cognition

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Social neuroscience

Answer 4

The study of social thoughts, feelings, and behavior that incorporates a range of measures of brain and body functioning

Question 5

Stereotype

Answer 5

A generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another

Question 6

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 6

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

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 an actor’s behavior

Question 9

Representative heuristic

Answer 9

The tendency to make judgments about group membership based on physical appearance or the match between a person and one’s stereotype of a group rather than on available base rate information

Question 10

False consensus effect

Answer 10

A person’s overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way the person does

Question 11

Positive illusions

Answer 11

Favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality

Question 12

Self-serving bias

Answer 12

The tendency to take credit for one’s successes and to deny responsibility for one’s failures

Question 13

Self-objectification

Answer 13

The tendency to see oneself primarily as an object in the eyes of others

Question 14

Stereotype threat

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Social comparison

Answer 15

The process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to those of others

Question 16

Attitudes

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Self-perception theory

Answer 18

Bem’s theory on how behaviors influence attitudes, stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior

Question 19

Elaboration likelihood model

Answer 19

Theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route

Question 20

Altruism

Answer 20

Unselfish interest in helping another person

Question 21

Egoism

Answer 21

Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid censure from oneself and others for failing to live up to society’s expectations

Question 22

Aggression

Answer 22

Behavior that is intended to harm another person

Question 23

Conformity

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Informational social influence

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Normative social influence

Answer 25

The influence others have on us because we want them to like us

Question 26

Obedience

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Deindividuation

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Social contagion

Answer 28

Imitative behavior involving the spread of actions, emotions, and ideas

Question 29

Social facilitation

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Social loafing

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Risky shift

Answer 31

The tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by the individual group members

Question 32

Group polarization effect

Answer 32

The solidification and further strengthening of an individual’s position as a consequence of a group discussion or interaction

Question 33

Groupthink

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Social identity

Answer 34

The way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership

Question 35

Social identity theory

Answer 35

Tajfel’s theory that social identity, based on group membership, is a crucial part of self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about oneself

Question 36

Ethnocentricism

Answer 36

The tendency to favor one's own ethnic group over other groups

Question 37

Prejudice

Answer 37

An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual's membership in a group

Question 38

Systemic racism

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Microaggression

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Discrimination

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Mere exposure effect

Answer 41

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 realize they have seen it before

Question 42

Romantic love or passionate love

Answer 42

Love with strong components of sexuality and infatuation, often dominant in the early part of a love relationship

Question 43

Affectionate love or compassionate love

Answer 43

Love that occurs when individual's desires to have another person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person

Question 44

Social exchange theory

Answer 44

The view of social relationships as involving an exchange of goods, the objective of which is to minimize costs and maximize benefits

Question 45

Investment model

Answer 45

A model of long-term relationships that examines the ways that commitment, investment, and the availability of attractive alternative partners predict satisfaction and stability in relationships