Psy 12.1 Flashcards
social psychology
The subfield in psychology that deals with how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by our social interactions with others.
social perception
The processes by which we form impressions, make judgments, and develop attitudes about the people and events that constitute our social world.
impression formation
The process of developing an opinion or impression of another person.
social schema
A mental image or representation that we use to understand our social environment.
stereotypes
The tendency to characterize all members of a particular group as having certain characteristics in common.
self-fulfilling prophecy
An expectation that helps bring about the outcome that is expected.
attribution
An assumption about the causes of behavior or events.
dispositional causes
Causes relating to the internal characteristics or traits of individuals.
situational causes
Causes relating to external or environmental events.
fundamental attribution error
The tendency to attribute behavior to internal causes without regard to situational influences.
actor-observer effect
The tendency to attribute the causes of one’s own behavior to situational factors while attributing the causes of other people’s behavior to internal factors or dispositions.
self-serving bias
The tendency to take credit for our accomplishments and to explain away our failures or disappointments.
attitude
A positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, or issues.
cognitive dissonance theory
The belief that people are motivated to resolve discrepancies between their behavior and their attitudes, beliefs, or perceptions.
elaboration likelihood model
A theoretical model that posits two channels by which persuasive appeals lead to attitude change: a central route and a peripheral route.
