Chapter 14 - Social Psychology Flashcards
psychologist who studies how thoughts, emotions, and behavior of individuals influence and are influenced by interactions between people
social psychologist
process through which a person understands and categorizes the behavior of others
social perception
states that a person understands other people by attributing their behavior either to their internal dispositions or their external situations
attribution theory
claim about the cause of a person’s behavior
attribution
an attribution based on a person’s personality or characteristics
dispositional attribution
process of attribution in which behavior is observed based on three characteristics: the behavior’s distinctiveness, it’s consistency, and consensus
covariation principle
a phenomenon in which people make an attribution based on character, even when they know that the behavior is situational
fundamental attribution error (FAE)
set of ideas or beliefs about others that leads a person to perceive others in a way that conforms with that person’s expectations
preexisting schema
tendency for a person to rate physically attractive people as more intelligent, competent, sociable, and sensitive that their less attractive counterparts
attractiveness bias
tendency for a person to attribute his or her failures to external events and his or her successes to personal characteristics and skills
self-serving bias
tendency for people to behave in accordance with others’ expectations
Pygmallion effect
belief that causes itself to become true
self-fulfilling prophecy
phenomenon that enables a person to influence other people to behave in accordance with his or her expectations
behavioral expectation confirmation
refers to underlying processes such as attention and memory that make social behavior possible
social cognition
area of the visual cortex that specifically responds to and recognizes faces
fusiform face area
condition caused by damage to the central region of the temporal lobe in which a person in unable to recognize faces
prosopagnosia
a person’s understanding that his or her behavior and that of others reflects a person’s mental state
mentalizing
behavioral control
social influence
consists of real or imagined psychological forces that people exert over others through their example, judgments, and demands
social pressure
a pleasurable incentive or an attempt to avoid pain that causes us to act in a certain way
hedonic motive
a person’s desire to be accepted by his or her peers
approval motive
a person’s desire to be correct or accurate
accuracy motive
refers to a person’s unconscious mimicry of other people’s expressions, behaviors, and voice tones
chameleon effet
a principle that requires people to adjust their behavior or thinking to match a group standard
conformity
influence that draws on a person’s desire for others’ approval and his or her longing to be part of a group
normative social influence
influence exerted by information that others give a person
informational social influence
a person’s susceptibility to opinions of others
suggestibility
a phenomenon in which the likelihood that a person requiring help receives it from an individual bystander is inversely proportional to the number of bystanders present
bystander effect
consists of those people to whom a person feels affiliated
reference group
situation in which people are isolated from alternative viewpoints and given strict rewards and punishments from leaders
total situation
change in a person’s behavior that occurs in response to a direct request
compliance
a disconnect between a person’s internal attitudes and his external behavior
cognitive dissonance
encourages compliance by offering an attractive deal, only to change the terms of the deal later
lowball technique
encourages people to comply with an attractive offer by substitutes that offer with a less attractive option once the person has agreed
bait-and-switch technique
involves asking people to comply with a small request and then making a much larger request, to raise funds
foot-in-the-door technique
a person’s feeling that he is similar to other people in thought, feeling, and behavior
shared identity
a socialized norm that involves a person’s tendency to desire to return favors
door-in-the-face technique
an evaluative belief or opinion about a person, object, or idea
attitude
a belief or opinion that a person holds consciously and can report to others
explicit attitude
a belief or opinion that a person can’t report and that will automatically influence his or her actions
implicit attitude
a deliberate effort to change an attitude or beavior
persuasion
a path to persuasion that involves paying careful attention to strong, well-presented arguments that are personally relevant and that appeal to reason
central route
path to persuasion that involves evaluating an argument based on tangential cues that than on the argument’s merits
peripheral route
people tend to be persuaded through the central route when their motivation and ability to understand and consider the persuasive message is high, while they are more likely to be persuaded by the peripheral route when their motivation is low or when they need to make a quick decision
elaboration-likelihood model
phenomenon in which it is difficult for people to shake their initial impressions
perseverance effect
phenomenon that occurs when a person forgets the unreliable source of a piece of information by remembers the information itself and believes that it’s trustworthy
sleeper effect
phenomenon that occurs when people believe that their individual efforts don’t matter or that they are not personally responsible because they are only one member of a group, so they tend to put less effort into a task
deindividuation
phenomenon in which the more members of a group discuss similar opinions, the more extreme their positions become
group polarization
phenomenon in which group member’s opinions become so uniform that all dissent becomes impossible
group think
refers to the power of a few people
minority influence
pain of rejection or loss brought on by losing a close personal relationship or membership in a group
social pain
emotion that relates to a person’s thoughts about himself or herself and about his or her own actions
self-conscious emotion
general belief about a group of people
stereotype
refers to a stereotyped group’s knowledge that they must work against a negative stereotype
stereotype threat
stereotype that is consciously held
explicit stereotype
an unconscious set of mental representations that guide attitudes and behaviors
implicit stereotype
consists of negative behavior toward a group of people and its members
discrimination
group that a person is part of
ingroup
group containing those people outside of one’s own group
outgroup
phenomenon in which people convince themselves that they are doing well because they are good people, while those who are suffering are just getting what they deserve
just-world phenomenon
consists of simple contact between two individuals or groups
mere exposure
process in which learning more about an outgroup through friendship or collaboration efforts can make people more tolerant of the norms and customs of other groups
deprovincialization
behavior intended to harm others
aggression
states that frustration occurs when people feel blocked in obtaining their goals
frustration-aggression hypothesis
disparity between people’s or groups’ actions, goals, or ideas
conflict
situation in which conflicting parties all try to win a conflict by engaging in mutually destructive behaviors, resulting in no one winning
social trap
systematic destruction of one group by another
genocide
act of working together for the good of the group
cooperation
act of promoting one’s own interest at the expense of others
defection
behavior carried out with the goal of helping others
prosocial behavior
prosocial behavior that is carried out without concern for one’s own safety or self interest
altruism
theory that suggests that people may carry out altruistic acts with the expectation of being the recipient of altruism at some point in the future or because they have been helped by altruism sometime in the past
reciprocal altruism
described the act of doing something beneficial for others in the hopes of receiving something in return
egoism
describes the act of contributing something beneficial to the whole group to which a person belongs
collectivism
desire to engage in prosocial behavior out of principle
principlism
