Chapter Eleven

Question 1

Social psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Question 2

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 2

The tendency, when analyzing others’ behavior, to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the influence of the situation

Question 3

Attitude

Answer 3

Feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

Question 4

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Answer 4

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Question 5

Role

Answer 5

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Question 6

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Answer 6

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) clash

Question 7

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Answer 7

Occurs when people are influenced by attention-getting cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

Question 8

Central Route Persuasion

Answer 8

Occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments

Question 9

Culture

Answer 9

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Question 10

Tight Culture

Answer 10

Places with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms

Question 11

Loose Culture

Answer 11

Places with flexible and informal norms

Question 12

Conformity

Answer 12

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Question 13

Normative Social Influence

Answer 13

Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

Question 14

Informational Social Influence

Answer 14

Influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

Question 15

Social Facilitation

Answer 15

In the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks

Question 16

Social Loafing

Answer 16

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Question 17

Deindividuation

Answer 17

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Question 18

Group Polarization

Answer 18

Strengthening of a group’s preexisting attitudes through discussions within the group

Question 19

Groupthink

Answer 19

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

Question 20

Prejudice

Answer 20

An unfair and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members

Question 21

Stereotype

Answer 21

A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

Question 22

Discrimination

Answer 22

Unfair negative behavior toward a group or its members

Question 23

Implicit Bias

Answer 23

Unconscious favoritism toward or prejudice against people of a particular race, gender, or other social group

Question 24

Just-World Phenomenon

Answer 24

The tendency to believe that the world is just and people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

Question 25

Ingroup

Answer 25

“Us” — people with whom we share a common identity

Question 26

Outgroup

Answer 26

“Them” — those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

Question 27

Ingroup Bias

Answer 27

The tendency to favor our own group

Question 28

Scapegoat Theory

Answer 28

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

Question 29

Other-Race Effect

Answer 29

The tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races

Question 30

Aggression

Answer 30

Any act intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

Question 31

Frustration-Aggression Principle

Answer 31

The principle that frustration — the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal — creates anger, which can generate aggression

Question 32

Social Script

Answer 32

A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations

Question 33

Mere Exposure Effect

Answer 33

The tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them

Question 34

Passionate Love

Answer 34

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of romantic love

Question 35

Companionate Love

Answer 35

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

Question 36

Equity

Answer 36

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it

Question 37

Self-Disclosure

Answer 37

Revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others

Question 38

Altruism

Answer 38

Unselfish concern for the welfare of others

Question 39

Bystander Effect

Answer 39

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

Question 40

Reciprocity Norm

Answer 40

An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

Question 41

Social- Responsibility Norm

Answer 41

An expectation that people will help those needing their help

Question 42

Conflict

Answer 42

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

Question 43

Mirror-Image Perceptions

Answer 43

Mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive

Question 44

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 44

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment

Question 45

Superordinate Goals

Answer 45

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation