Chapter 13 Flashcards
Social psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Attribution theory
The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition
Fundamental attribution error
The tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation & to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
Attitude
Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
Peripheral route persuasion
Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness
Central route persuasion
Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments & respond with favorable thoughts
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Role
A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Driving to school one snowy day, Marco narrowly misses a car the slides through a red light. “Slow down! What a terrible driver,” he thinks to himself. Moments later, Marco himself slips through an intersection and yelps, “wow! these roads are awful. The city plows need to get out here. “What social psychology principle has Marco just demonstrated? Explain.
By attributing the other person’s behavior to the person (“what a terrible driver”) and his own to the situation (“these roads are awful”). Marco has exhibited the fundamental attribution error
How do our attitudes and our actions affect each other?
Our attitudes often influence our actions as we behave in ways consistent with our beliefs. However, our attitudes also follow our actions; we come to believe in what we have done
When people act in a way that is not in keeping with their attitudes, & then change their attitudes to match those actions, ______ _______ theory attempts to explain why.
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance theory
The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes & our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes
Culture
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
Norm
An understood rule for accepted & expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior
What is culture, and how does it transmission distinguish us from other social animals?
Culture represents our shared behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions, which we transmit across generations by way of our language ability. This allows us to preserve innovation and enjoy an efficient division of labor
Conformity
Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
Normative social infuence
Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
Informational social influence
Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
Which of the following strengthens conformity to a group?
Finding the group attractive
Psychology’s most famous obedience experiments, in which most participants obeyed an authority figure’s demands to inflict presumed life-threatening shocks on an innocent other, were conducted by social psychologist ______ _______.
Stanley Milgram
What situations have researchers found to be most likely to encourage obedience in participants?
The Milgram studies showed that people were most likely to follow orders when the experimenter was nearby and was a legitimate authority figure, the victim was not nearby, and there was no models for defiance
Social loafing
The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
Deindividuation
The loss of self-awareness & self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
Group polarization
The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group
What is social facilitation, and under what circumstances is it most likely to occur?
This improved performance in the presence of others is most likely to occur with a well-learned task, because the added arousal caused by an audience tends to strengthen the most likely response.
People tend to exert less effort when working with a group than they would alone, which is called?
Social loafing
You are organizing a meeting of fiercely competitive political candidates. To add to the fun, friends have suggested handing out masks of the candidates’ faces for supporters to wear. What phenomenon might these masks engage?
The anonymity provided by the masks, combined with the arousal of the contentious setting, might create deindividuation (lessened self-awareness and self-restraint)
When like-minded groups discuss a topic, and the result is the strengthening of the prevailing opinion, this is called?
Group polarization
When a group’s desire for harmony overrides its realistic analysis of other options, ______ has occured
Groupthink
Groupthink
The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
Prejudice
An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminating action
Stereotype
A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people
Discrimination
Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group & its members
Just-world phenomenon
The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
Ingroup
“Us”- people with whom we share a common identity
