Social Psych

Question 1

Describe the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 1

when an initially inaccurate expectation leads to actions that cause the expectation to come true

example - “i am gonna fail psych —> doesn’t study, doesn’t pay attention —> fails psych

Question 2

Describe the Other-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 2

when the expectation of others leads to actions that cause the expectation to come true

example - you will excel in basketball this season —> focus in practice, put in extra time —> excel in bball

Question 3

Describe the Attributional Theory

Answer 3

Judgements that a person’s behavior was caused by their personality

example- shouting at an airport means that they are always an angry person

Question 4

Describe the Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 4

when observers overestimate the role of personality factors on behaviors and underestimate the role of situational influences

example- blaming a coworker for being late because they’re unreliable instead of considering that they got stuck in traffic

Question 5

Describe the Actor-Observer Difference

Answer 5

the tendency for individuals to judge their own behaviors as caused by situational forces but the behavior of another as caused by their personality

example- tripping on the road and blaming to road, but watching someone else trip and thinking they’re clumsy

Question 6

Describe the Availability Heuristic

Answer 6

estimating the likelihood of an event by the ease at which it comes to mind

example- non-commonness of plane crashes make people more afraid than of a car crash, which happens often

Question 7

Describe the Representative Heuristic

Answer 7

classifying something as belonging to a certain category

grouping like things together
(stereotypes)

Question 8

Describe the Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic

Answer 8

using a stereotype as a starting point and then adjusting it to include unique characteristics

Question 9

Describe False Consensus

Answer 9

the tendency to overestimate the extent in which others agree with us

example- thinking that everyone loves basketball just because you feel that way

Question 10

Describe Downward Social Comparison

Answer 10

the process of which comparing ourselves with those who are less well off

example- breast cancer surgery vs heart surgery

Question 11

Describe Upwards Social Comparison

Answer 11

the process of comparing ourselves with those who are better off than ourselves

example - comparing yourself to someone who gets As to inspire urself to study

Question 12

Describe the Self-Serving Bias

Answer 12

The tendency to take credit for our successes and to blame external factors on our failures

Question 13

Describe the Overconfidence Phenomenon

Answer 13

people’s confidence in their actions is reliably higher than their accuracy of those actions

Question 14

Describe the 2 types of Overconfidence Phenomenon

Answer 14

1. Overestimation - judging the precision of your abilities to be higher than they actually are

example- thinking u aced a test when u bombed it

2. Over placement- judging your performance to be higher than others

Question 15

Describe Deindividualization

Answer 15

powerful in large groups

occurs due to a loss of self-awareness and increased feeling of anonymity (lacking identity), heightened emotions/arousal and diminished responsibility

Diminished responsibility—> behaviors you would not normally exhibit

(example - riots)

Question 16

Describe Conformity

Answer 16

a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group

change occurs in response to real or imagined group pressure

Question 17

What are the 2 types of conformity?

Answer 17

1. Normative - conforming to a group’s behavior to be liked by the group

2. Informational - turning to group members to obtain and accept accurate information

Question 18

Describe the Factors that effect Conformity

Answer 18

- made to feel incompetent
- at least 3 people
- high status group (want to fit in)
- unanimity ( not stand out)
- no prior commitment
- our behavior is in the open
- cultural effect

Question 19

Describe Social Facilitation

Answer 19

improved performance on simple tasks in the presence or implied presence of others

social evaluation has an impact on performance (likely due to arousal)

enhanced speed and accuracy of well-practiced tasks but will degrade performance of less familiar tasks

Question 20

Describe Social Loafing

Answer 20

the tendency for individuals to slack off when doing things as a group

when you believe other are trying you may quit because you feel less accountable

Question 21

Describe Group Polarization

Answer 21

when like-minded people form a group, their similar thoughts tend to intensify

as a result, small differences between groups tend to grow

Question 22

Describe the GroupThink Phenomenon

Answer 22

Desire for group harmony leads to dysfunctional decision making

to minimize group conflict, opposing viewpoints and outside influences are suppressed

the group reaches an agreement without evaluating the opposing ideas

can be stopped by a good leader that listens to other and welcomes criticism—> also minorities can effect the group if they stick to their guns

Question 23

Describe Self-Handicapping

Answer 23

engaging in behaviors that sabotage your chances of success

Question 24

Describe Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 24

when your actions directly conflict with your beliefs and it leads to internal conflict

easier to change your beliefs about the actions as you cannot undo what has been done

Question 25

Describe the Theory of Mind

Answer 25

the ability to gift mental states to ourselves and others

(beliefs, intents, desires, emotions and knowledge)

Question 26

Describe the By-Stander Effect

Answer 26

the influence of the presence of others on a person’s willingness to help someone in need