Social Psychology

Question 1

Define Social Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Question 2

Define Attribution Theory

Answer 2

The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

Question 3

Define 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

Define 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

Define Peripheral Route Persuasion

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Define Central Route Persuasion

Answer 6

Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

Question 7

Define 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

Define Role

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Define Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Answer 9

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.

Question 10

Define Conformity

Answer 10

Adjusting our behavior to thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Question 11

Define Normative Social Influence

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Define Informational Social Influence

Answer 12

Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality.

Question 13

Define Social Facilitation

Answer 13

Improved performance on simple or well learned tasks in the presence of others.

Question 14

Define Social Loafing

Answer 14

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 15

Define Deinviduation

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Define Group Polarization

Answer 16

The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

Question 17

Define Groupthink

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Define Culture

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Define Norm

Answer 19

An understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior.

Question 20

Define Prejudice

Answer 20

An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Question 21

Define Stereotype

Answer 21

A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.

Question 22

Define Discrimination

Answer 22

Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

Question 23

Define Just-World Phenomenon

Answer 23

The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Question 24

Define Ingroup

Answer 24

“Us”—people with whom we share a common identity.

Question 25

Define Outgroup

Answer 25

“Them”—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.

Question 26

Define Ingroup Bias

Answer 26

The tendency to favor our own group.

Question 27

Define Scapegoat Theory

Answer 27

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Question 28

Define Other-Race Effect

Answer 28

The tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races. Also called the cross-race effect or the own-race bias.

Question 29

Define Aggression

Answer 29

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

Question 30

Define Frustration-Aggression Principle

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Define Social Script

Answer 31

Culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

Question 32

Define Mere Exposure Effect

Answer 32

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them.

Question 33

Define Passionate Love

Answer 33

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

Question 34

Define Companionate Love

Answer 34

The deep affection attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

Question 35

Define Equity

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Define Self-Disclosure

Answer 36

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

Question 37

Define Altruism

Answer 37

Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

Question 38

Define Bystander Effect

Answer 38

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

Question 39

Define Social Exchange Theory

Answer 39

The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

Question 40

Define Reciprocity Norm

Answer 40

An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Question 41

Define Social-Responsibility Norm

Answer 41

An expectation that people will help those needing their help.

Question 42

Define Conflict

Answer 42

A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.

Question 43

Define Social Trap

Answer 43

A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.

Question 44

Define Mirror-Image Perceptions

Answer 44

Mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive.

Question 45

Define Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 45

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.

Question 46

Define Superordinate Goals

Answer 46

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

Question 47

Define Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension (GRIT)

Answer 47

A strategy designed to decrease international tensions.

Question 48

Fritz Heider (1958)

Answer 48

Proposed the attribution theory.

Question 49

What two forms do persuasion efforts generally take?

Answer 49

Peripheral route persuasion and central route persuasion.

Question 50

What do social psychologists focus on/study?

Answer 50

How we think about, influence, and relate to one another. They study the social influences that explain why the same person will act differently in different situations.

Question 51

How do attitudes and actions affect each other?

Answer 51

When other influences are minimal, attitudes that are stable, specific, and easily recalled can affect our actions. Actions can modify attitudes, as in the foot-in-the-door phenomenon and role playing. When our attitudes don't fit with our actions, cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we will reduce tension by changing our attitudes to match our actions.

Question 52

What is the chameleon effect?

Answer 52

The tendency of people to take on the emotional tones of people around us and unconsciously imitate expressions, postures, and voice tones.

Question 53

What is empathy?

Answer 53

Feeling what others are feeling.

Question 54

What is mood linkage?

Answer 54

Sharing up and down moods.

Question 55

In what situations are we more likely to conform?

Answer 55

When we: are made to feel incompetent or insecure are in a group with at least three people are in a group in which everyone else agrees admire the group's status and attractiveness have not made a prior commitment to any response know that others in the group will observe our behavior are from a culture that strongly encourages respect for social standards.

Question 56

Stanley Milgram

Answer 56

Social psychologist who conducted what became social psychology's most famous, controversial, and influential obedience experiments (electric shocks).

Question 57

Why were Milgram's experiments controversial?

Answer 57

The use of deception and stress triggered a debate over research ethics.

Question 58

What types of situations are most likely to encourage obedience?

Answer 58

Solomon Asch and others have found that we are most likely to adjust our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard when we: are made to feel incompetent or insecure are in a group with at least three people are in a group in which everyone else agrees admire the group's status and attractiveness have not made a prior commitment to any response know that others in the group will observe our behavior are from a culture that strongly encourages respect for social standards

Question 59

What did Milgram's obedience experiments teach us about the power of social influence?

Answer 59

They demonstrated that strong social influences can make ordinary people conform to falsehoods or give in to cruelty.

Question 60

What three things cause social loafing?

Answer 60

1) People acting as part of a group feel less accountable, and therefore worry less about what others think. 2) Group members may view their individual contributions as dispensable. 3) When group members share equally in the benefits, regardless of how much they contribute, some may slack off and free ride on others' efforts.

Question 61

What is ethnocentricism?

Answer 61

Assuming the superiority of one's ethnic group.

Question 62

Prejudice is a negative _________; discrimination is a negative __________.

Answer 62

attitude; behavior

Question 63

What are the social roots of prejudice?

Answer 63

Social inequalities and divisions.

Question 64

What are the cognitive roots of prejudice?

Answer 64

The cognitive roots of prejudice grow from our natural ways of processing information: forming categories, remembering vivid cases, and believing that the world is just and our own and our culture's ways of doing things are the right ways.

Question 65

What are some biological influences on aggression?

Answer 65

Genetic Influences: those with the Y chromosome are more aggressive identical twins are likely to have similar temperaments. Neural Influences: there are certain brain areas that, when stimulated, will either inhibit or facilitate aggression Studies of violent criminals have revealed diminished activity in the frontal lobes Biochemical Influences: hormones such as testosterone influence the neural systems that control aggression low levels of certain neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, are also linked to higher levels of aggression alcohol circulating in the bloodstream can unleash aggressive responses to frustration

Question 66

What are some psychological influences on aggression?

Answer 66

``` domineering behavior frustration aversive stimuli can evoke hostility hot temperatures physical pain personal insults foul odors crowding rewards or reinforcement for aggressive behavior ```

Question 67

What are some social-cultural influences on aggression?

Answer 67

``` aggressive parental role models media models music TV shows/movies pornography video games deindividuation minimal father involvement rejection from a group ```

Question 68

What three factors influence our liking of one another?

Answer 68

Proximity, physical attractiveness, and similarity.

Question 69

What is proximity?

Answer 69

Geographical nearness.

Question 70

How does proximity influence our liking of one anther?

Answer 70

It is relationship's most powerful predictor. It often breeds liking, partly because of the mere exposure effect.

Question 71

How does attractiveness influence our liking of one anther?

Answer 71

Physical appearance most affects first impressions, and predicts how often people date and how popular they feel.

Question 72

How does similarity influence our liking of one another?

Answer 72

In real life, opposites do not attract. Friends and couples are likely to share common beliefs, attitudes, and interests.

Question 73

What is the reward theory of attraction?

Answer 73

We will like those whose behavior is rewarding to us, and we will continue relationships that offer more rewards than costs.

Question 74

How does romantic love typically change as time passes?

Answer 74

Passionate love is slowly replaced by companionate love, enhanced by equity and self disclosure.

Question 75

What three situational facts must be present in a situation for bystanders to help?

Answer 75

We will help if the situation enables us to (1) notice the incident, (2) interpret it as an emergency, and (3) assume responsibility.

Question 76

What is a diffusion of responsiblity?

Answer 76

When more people share responsibility for helping, any single bystander is less likely to help (bystander effect).

Question 77

When do the best odds of our helping someone occur?

Answer 77

the person appears to need and deserve help the person is in some way similar to us the person is a woman we have just observed someone else being helpful we are not in a hurry we are in a small town or rural area we are feeling guilty we are focused on others and not preoccupied we are in a good mood

Question 78

Why do we help others?

Answer 78

One widely held view is that self-interest underlies all human interactions, and our constant goal is to maximize rewards and minimize costs. If the reward exceeds the costs, you will help (social exchange theory). Others believe that we help because we have been socialized to do so, through norms that prescribe how we ought to behave (reciprocity norm, social-responsibility norm).

Question 79

What fuels social conflict?

Answer 79

Social traps; mirror-image perceptions that may become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Question 80

What four processes help promote peace?

Answer 80

Contact: non-competitive contact between parties of equal status typically helps promote peace. Cooperation: a shared predicament has a powerfully unifying effect. Communication: voicing viewpoints and understanding other's needs and goals can lead to a mutually beneficial resolution. Conciliation: tensions can be eased by small conciliatory acts that are reciprocated.

Question 81

Philip Zimbardo

Answer 81

Stanford prison experiments that explored the affects of playing a role.

Question 82

Leon Festinger

Answer 82

Proposed the cognitive dissonance theory.

Question 83

Solomon Asch

Answer 83

Conformity tests.