Module 12 Flashcards
Social psychology
the study of the influence of social situations on the individual - and the influence of the individual on social situations
Self
each person’s awareness of, and ideas about their own individual nature, characteristics and existence
the self serving bias
tendency to make various sorts of judgment errors - always in your own favor
Self serving bias basic type 1)
Overestimating your own contributions.
Self serving bias basic type 2)
Overestimating your positive attributes relative to others - seeing yourself as “better than average.”
Self serving bias basic type 3)
attributing your successes and good deeds to your own efforts or characteristics, and your bad deeds and failures to circumstances, bad luck, or other people.
confirmation bias
the tendency to search for; interpret, favor, and recall
Cognitive dissonance
The anxiety or tension that arises when people behave in ways that run contrary to their attitudes.
Self-regulation
all of the ways that the self monitors and exerts control over its responses so as to accomplish goals and live up to personal standards.
False hope syndrome
repeated failure in self-improvement attempts brought on by unrealistic ideas about the speed or ease with which self-change will occur, the amount of change that is likely or even possible, and the rewards that will accrue from self-improvement changes.
Social comparison theory
explores the ways in which people make social comparisons, their reasons for doing so, and the consequences of comparison judgments.
Upward Comparisons
Making comparisons to someone you judge to be better than you.
Downward Comparisons
Making comparisons to someone you judge as not as good as you.
Lateral Comparisons
Making comparisons to someone you consider more or less equal to you.
Social roles
a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group
Scripts
a person’s knowledge about the sequence of events expected in a specific setting
Impression Management
Refers to the sum total of actions we take — both consciously and unconsciously — to influence how others perceive us.
Spotlight Effect
When individuals think they are receiving more attention than they actually are.
Attribution
the process of explaining behavior - ours and someone else’s - in terms of causes that refer to characteristics of the person (dispositional cause), the situation (situational cause), or an interaction between the two.
Dispositional
Behavior is caused by the internal characteristics of the individual.
Situational
Behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings.
Intentional
The individual has chosen to behave a certain way
Unintentional
The individual’s behavior was unintended or not under their control.
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
the tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to those individuals’ dispositions and other internal factors, while ignoring or underestimating the possibility that situation factors may have played an important or determining role.
Actor-observer bias
a systematic bias toward attributing your own behavior primarily to situational factors, but others’ behavior to dispositional factors.
Just-world hypothesis
the tendency to make attributions based on the belief that the world is fundamentally just.
False-consensus effect
when we see our own behavioral choices and judgments as common and appropriate to existing circumstances while viewing alternative responses as uncommon, deviant, or inappropriate.
Social schemas
general knowledge about how people behave in certain social situations.
Social facilitation
the improvement of an individual’s performance of a task when others are present.
Social inhibition
the restraint placed on an individual’s expression of feelings, attitudes, motives, by the belief that others could learn of this behavior and disapprove of it.
Social loafing
people are prone to exert less effort when working collectively as part of a group compared to working alone
Bystander effect
the tendency for a person to be less likely to intervene and offer help to a stranger in an emergency situation when there are other people there who might reasonably be thought able to help.
Deindividuation
giving up normal behavioral restraints to the group.
Groupthink
a mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for unanimity in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.
Minority influence
occurs when a confident and persistent minority group influences a decision made by a whole group.
Group polarization
the tendency for members of a group discussing an issue to move toward a more extreme version of the positions they held before the discussion began.
Cooperation
people working together to reach a goal.
Competition
working toward a goal while denying access to that goal to others.
Interpersonal conflict
person believes that another stands in the way of something of value.
Attitude
a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors towards a particular object, person, thing, or event
Components of attitude
Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive
Affective
emotional component
Behavioral
action component
Cognitive
belief component
Persuasion
process by which a person’s attitudes or behavior are, without duress, influenced by communications from other people.
Conformity
the tendency of people to bring their behavior, attitudes, and/or beliefs in line with group norms and pressures.
Social Norms
the unwritten rules of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are considered acceptable in a particular social group or culture.
Asch Effect
the influence of the group majority on an individual’s judgment
Compliance
refers to changing one’s behavior due to the request or direction of another person
Foot-in-the-door effect
is when you start with a small request and build up to a larger request.
Door-in-the-face effect
someone starts with a large request that the other person would turn down, and then asking a more reasonable request that the person would accept.
Free gift technique
giving someone a small free gift to increase the possibility of agreement with a later request.
Scarcity technique
increasing the attractiveness of a product by making the product appear limited or rare.
Cults
A cult is a rigid group with a charismatic leader.
Propaganda
a persuasive attempt that is purposefully biased, motivated by a specific idea or ideology.
Stereotype
a specific belief or assumption about individuals based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics
Prejudice
a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group.
Discrimination
an action or behavior that is directed towards members of certain groups, and is used to refer to a person or people behaving differently (most commonly, unfairly and humiliating) toward others based solely on their membership of a specific social group.
