Chapter 13: Social Psychology

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

Study of the causes and consequences of sociality, insight into how humans solve problems of survival and reproduction

Question 2

Aggression

Answer 2

Behaviour whose purpose is to harm another
- Used by every animal on the planet to achieve goals

Question 3

Frustration–aggression hypothesis

Answer 3

states that all animals aggress when their goals are frustrated (e.g., chimp/pelican/banana; robber/bank teller)

Question 4

Proactive aggression

Answer 4

planned and purposeful (direct target, benefit, low arousal)

Question 5

Reactive aggression

Answer 5

spontaneous response to negative affect (high arousal, unplanned, may not have a direct target or benefit)

Question 6

Cooperation

Answer 6

Behaviour by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit

Question 7

Group

Answer 7

Collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them from others

Question 8

Prejudice

Answer 8

Positive or negative evaluation of another person based on group membership

Question 9

Common knowledge effect

Answer 9

a problem in a group decision-making process that occurs when the group only recognizes and prioritizes information that is shared and available for all group members

Question 10

Group polarization

Answer 10

The tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than any member would have made alone (e.g., planning a night out/ where to go for spring break)

Question 11

Groupthink

Answer 11

the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility

Question 12

Deindividuation

Answer 12

Occurs when immersion in a group causes people to become less aware of their individual values (e.g., sports riots)

Question 13

Diffusion of responsibility

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Social loafing

Answer 14

The tendency for people to expend less effort when in a group than when alone (e.g., group projects, pulling rope, clapping, tips, etc.)

Question 15

Bystander effect

Answer 15

the tendency for people to be less likely to help a stranger in an emergency situation when other bystanders are present

Question 16

Altruism

Answer 16

intentional behaviour that benefits another at a potential cost to oneself (E.g.?); Debated

Question 17

Kin selection

Answer 17

Process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives

Question 18

Reciprocal altruism

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Mere exposure effect

Answer 19

our tendency to develop preferences for things simply because we are familiar with them

Question 20

Homophily

Answer 20

the tendency of people to like people who are similar to themselves

Question 21

Passion love

Answer 21

Experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction

Question 22

Companionate love

Answer 22

Experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner’s well-being

Question 23

Comparison level for alternatives

Answer 23

cost–benefit ratio that people believe they deserve or could attain in another relationship

Question 24

Investment (e.g., time, kids, pets, house)

Answer 24

People also care about Equity: State of affairs in which the cost–benefit ratios of the two partners are roughly equal

Question 25

Social cognition

Answer 25

Involves processes by which people come to
understand others

Question 26

Stereotyping

Answer 26

Process of drawing inferences about individuals based on their category membership (e.g., athlete, children)
▪ Can be helpful, but also harmful

Question 27

Most effective stereotyping

Answer 27

Techniques that exposed whites to examples of Blacks who defied their stereotype

Question 28

Least effective stereotyping

Answer 28

Techniques that encouraged people to feel compassion towards or take the perspective of a Black person

Question 29

Attribution

Answer 29

Inference about the cause of a person’s behavior (e.g., late for class)

Question 30

Dispositional attributions

Answer 30

attribute someone’s internal disposition as cause

Question 31

Situational attributions

Answer 31

occurs when we infer that a behavior or event is caused by some factor relative to the situation

Question 32

Covariation model

Answer 32

attribution of an effect to one of its possible causes with which it covaries over a period time

Question 33

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 33

Tendency to make a dispositional attribution when we should instead make a situational attribution (e.g., rude customer)

Question 34

Actor–observer effect

Answer 34

Tendency to make situational attributions for our behaviours while making dispositional attributions for the identical behaviour of others. E.g., University students choosing majors; being late for class

Question 35

Social influence

Answer 35

Ability to change or direct another person’s behaviour

Question 36

Hedonic motive

Answer 36

motive to experience pleasure & avoid pain

Question 37

Approval motive

Answer 37

motivation to be accepted and avoid being rejected

Question 38

Accuracy motive

Answer 38

motivation to believe what is right and avoid believing what is wrong

Question 39

Overjustification effect

Answer 39

when a reward decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a behaviour

Question 40

Reactance

Answer 40

unpleasant feeling that arises when people feel they are being coerced – will often do they opposite

Question 41

Approval Motive

Answer 41

People are motivated to be accepted and to avoid being rejected

Question 42

Norms

Answer 42

Doing what is appropriate; Customary standard for behaviour that is widely shared by members of a culture (e.g., elevator, lines)

Question 43

Normative influence

Answer 43

Occurs when another person’s behaviour provides information about what is appropriate (e.g., candy w/bill - norm of reciprocity)

Question 44

Door-in-the-face technique

Answer 44

A technique for gaining compliance in which begins with a large request followed by a rejection causing to retreat to a smaller request

Question 45

Conformity

Answer 45

Doing what we see others do

Question 46

Obedience

Answer 46

Tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do

Question 47

The Accuracy Motive

Answer 47

People are motivated to believe what is true and to avoid believing what is false

Question 48

Attitude

Answer 48

Enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event

Question 49

Belief

Answer 49

Enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event

Question 50

Informational influence

Answer 50

Occurs when another person’s behaviour provides information about what is good or true

Question 51

Persuasion

Answer 51

When communication from another person influences a person’s attitudes or beliefs

Question 52

Central-route persuasion

Answer 52

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

Question 53

Peripheral-route persuasion

Answer 53

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

Question 54

Foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 54

Technique that involves a small request followed by a larger request

Question 55

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 55

Unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of their actions, attitudes, or beliefs