Social Psych Vocab

Question 1

social psychology

Answer 1

the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others

Question 2

attribution theory

Answer 2

we can credit or blame (attribute) the behavior to the person’s internal stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution) or we can attribute it to the external situation (a situational attribution)

Question 3

fundamental attribution error

Answer 3

the tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Question 4

attitude

Answer 4

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people and events

Question 5

peripheral route persuasion

Answer 5

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

Question 6

central route persuasion

Answer 6

occurs when people are influenced by arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

Question 7

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Answer 7

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

Question 8

role

Answer 8

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

Question 9

cognitive dissonance theory

Answer 9

Leon Festinger’s theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts or behaviors are inconsistent

Question 10

norms

Answer 10

understood rules for accepted and expected behaviors

Question 11

conformity

Answer 11

adjusting our thinking or behavior to coincide with a group standard because of real or imagined pressure to fit in

Question 12

information social influence

Answer 12

influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept other’s opinions about realitty

Question 13

normative social influence

Answer 13

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

Question 14

prejudice

Answer 14

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude towards a group and its members

Question 14

social facilitation

Answer 14

improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

Question 15

social loafing

Answer 15

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 16

deindividuation

Answer 16

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

Question 17

group polarization

Answer 17

the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussions with the group

Question 18

culture

Answer 18

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

Question 18

groupthink

Answer 18

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

Question 19

stereotype

Answer 19

generalized beliefs about a group of people

Question 20

discrimination

Answer 20

acting in negative and unjustifiable ways towards members of the group

Question 21

just-world phenomenon

Answer 21

the tendency for people to believe the world is just, fair, and people therefore get what they deserve

Question 22

ingroup

Answer 22

people with whom we share a common identity

Question 23

outgroup

Answer 23

those perceived as different or apart from our in-group

Question 24

ingroup bias

Answer 24

a favoring of our own group

Question 25

other-race effect

Answer 25

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

Question 26

aggression

Answer 26

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone whether done out of hostility or as a means of calculation to an end

Question 27

frustration-aggression principle

Answer 27

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

Question 28

social script

Answer 28

a culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations

Question 29

mere exposure effect

Answer 29

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

Question 30

passionate love

Answer 30

an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present of a romantic relationship

Question 31

companionate love

Answer 31

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

Question 32

equity

Answer 32

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

Question 33

self-disclosure

Answer 33

the act of revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others

Question 34

altruism

Question 35

bystander effect

Question 36

social exchange theory

Question 37

reciprocity norm

Question 38

social trap