Psychology in Our Social Lives Flashcards
social psychology
the scientific study of how we feel about, think about, and behave toward the other people around us, and how those people influence our thoughts, feelings, and behavior
social situation
the people with whom we are interacting
social cognition
the part of human thinking that helps us understand and predict the behavior of ourselves and others
attitudes
our enduring evaluations of people or things
social norms
the accepted beliefs about what we do or what we should do in particular social situations
stereotyping
tendency to attribute personality characteristics to people on the basis of their external appearance or their social group memberships
prejudice
the tendency to dislike people because of their appearance or group memberships
discrimination
negative behaviors toward others based on prejudice
self-fulfilling prophecy
occurs when our expectations about the personality characteristics of others lead us to behave toward those others in ways that make those beliefs come true
social identity
the positive emotions that we experience as a result of our group memberships
close relationships
the long-term intimate and romantic relationships that we develop with another person—for instance, in a marriage
mere exposure
the tendency to prefer stimuli (including but not limited to people) that we have seen more frequently
stimuli tend to produce more positive affect as they become more familiar
Commitment
refers to the feelings and actions that keep partners working together to maintain the relationship
causal attribution
The process of trying to determine the causes of people’s behavior, with the goal of learning about their personalities
person attribution
we may decide that the behavior was caused primarily by the person
situation attribution
we may determine that the behavior was caused primarily by the situation
fundamental attribution error (or correspondence bias)
the common tendency to overestimate the role of person factors and overlook the impact of situations in judging others
self-monitoring
the tendency to regulate behavior to meet the demands of social situations
people w high self monitoring tend to change their behaviors to match the social situation and thus do not always act on their attitudes
Self-perception
occurs when we use our own behavior as a guide to help us determine our own thoughts and feelings
eg, shaking your head while reading a newspaper
Cognitive dissonance
the discomfort we experience when we choose to behave in ways that we see as inappropriate
If we feel that we have wasted our time or acted against our own moral principles, we experience negative emotions (dissonance) and may change our attitudes about the behavior to reduce the negative feelings.
When we put in effort for something—an initiation, a big purchase price, or even some of our precious time—we will likely end up liking the activity more than we would have if the effort had been less; not doing so would lead us to experience the unpleasant feelings of dissonance.
Altruism
any behavior that is designed to increase another person’s welfare, and particularly those actions that do not seem to provide a direct reward to the person who performs them
We are more likely to help when we receive rewards for doing so and less likely to help when helping is costly
Reciprocal altruism
the principle that, if we help other people now, those others will return the favor should we need their help in the future
responsibility norm
we should try to help others who need assistance, even without any expectation of future paybacks
reciprocity norm
we should follow the principles of reciprocal altruism. If someone helps us, then we should help them in the future, and we should help people now with the expectation that they will help us later if we need it.
Diffusion of responsibility
occurs when we assume that others will take action and therefore we do not take action ourselves
culture of honor
social norm that condones and even encourages responding to insults with aggression
minority influence
cases in which a smaller number of individuals is able to influence the opinions or behaviors of the larger group
psychological reactance
a strong emotional reaction that leads people to resist pressures to conform
aroused when our ability to choose which behaviors to engage in is eliminated or threatened with elimination
social facilitation
The tendency to perform tasks better or faster in the presence of others
social inhibition
The tendency to perform tasks more poorly or more slowly in the presence of others
dominant response
Robert Zajonc
when we are with others we experience more arousal than we do when we are alone, and this arousal increases the likelihood that we will perform the dominant response, the action that we are most likely to emit in any given situation
group process
the events that occur while the group is working on the task
group process gain
When the outcome of group performance is better than we would expect given the individuals who form the group
group process loss
when the group outcome is worse than we would have expected given the individuals who form the group
social loafing
a group process loss that occurs when people do not work as hard in a group as they do when they are working alone
Groupthink
a phenomenon that occurs when a group made up of members who may be very competent and thus quite capable of making excellent decisions nevertheless ends up, as a result of a flawed group process and strong conformity pressures, making a poor decision
more likely to occur in groups whose members feel a strong group identity, when there is a strong and directive leader, and when the group needs to make an important decision quickly
illusion of group productivity
The tendency for group members to overvalue the productivity of the groups they work in
