Chapter 13 - Social Psychology

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

The study of how people influence other’s behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes– for both good and bad

Question 2

Social Comparison Thoery

Answer 2

We evaluate our abilities and beliefs by comparing them with those of others

Question 3

Mass Hysteria

Answer 3

A contagious outbreak of irrational behavior that spreads much like the flu virus

Question 4

Collective Delusions

Answer 4

Many people simultanously come to be convinced of bizarre things that are false

Question 5

Urban Legends

Answer 5

False stories repeated so many times that people believe them to be true

Question 6

Social Distruption

Answer 6

A worsening of performance in the presence of others–occurs on tasks we find difficult

Question 7

Attributes

Answer 7

Assigning causes to behaviors

Question 8

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 8

We attribute too much of people’s behavior to who they are

Question 9

Dispositional Influence

Answer 9

Enduring characteristics (personality traits, attitudes, intelligence)

Question 10

Situational Influences

Answer 10

We attribute too little of their behavior to what’s going around them

Question 11

Conformity

Answer 11

The tendency of people to alter their behavior as a result of group pressure

Question 12

Groupthink

Answer 12

An emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking
rely on “common knowledge”

Question 13

Cults

Answer 13

Groups that exhibit intense and unquestioning devotion to a single cause

Question 14

Obedience

Answer 14

We take our marching orders from people above us in the hierarchy of authority

Question 15

Bystander Effect

Answer 15

Bystanders in the emergencies typically want to intervene but often find themselves frozen, seemingly helpless to help

Question 16

Pluralistic Ignorance

Answer 16

The error of assuming that no one in the group perceives things as we do

Question 17

Diffusion of Responsibility

Answer 17

The presence of others makes each person feel less responsible for the outcome

Question 18

Stereotype

Answer 18

A belief (positive or negative) about a group’s characteristics that we apply to most members of that group

Question 19

Ultimate Attribution Error

Answer 19

The mistake of attributing the negative behavior of entire groups

Question 20

Adaptive Conservatism

Answer 20

Organisms benefit from forging close alliances with insiders and mistrusting outsiders

Question 21

In-Group Bias

Answer 21

The tendency to favor individuals inside our group relative to members outside our group

Question 22

Out-Group Homogeneity

Answer 22

The tendency to view all people outside our group as highly similar

Question 23

Discrimination

Answer 23

The act of treating members of out-groups differently from members of in-group

Question 24

Minimal Intergroup Bias

Answer 24

A lab method for creating groups based on arbitrary differences

Question 25

Scape Goat Hypothesis

Answer 25

Prejudice that arises from a need to blame other groups for our misfortunes

Question 26

Just-World Hypothesis

Answer 26

Many of us have a deep seated need to perceive the world as fair– to believe that all things happen for a reason.

Question 27

Implicit Prejudice

Answer 27

Prejudice in which we are unaware

Question 28

Jigsaw Classrooms

Answer 28

Teachers assign children separate tasks that all need to be fitted together to complete a project

Question 29

Deindividuation

Answer 29

The tendency for people to engage in deviant behaviors when stripped of their typical identity

Question 30

Self-Reference Effect

Answer 30

Perceiving that our own beliefs and view points are the nor, over estimating the degree to which others share our beliefs

Question 31

Up-Ward Social Comparison

Answer 31

Comparing ourselves to others who are better than us on a trait or ability (motivate us to become better)

Question 32

Down-Ward Social Comparison

Answer 32

Comparing ourselves to others who are worse than us on s trait or ability (feel good about ourselves)