Social Psychology Flashcards
Social Psychology
The study of how people think, feel, and behave in social situations
Social Cognition
How we form impressions of other people, how we interpret others’ behavior, and how our behavior is affected by these attitudes
Social Influence
How our behavior is influenced by those around us
Person Perception
The means by which we determine our opinion of others
What 4 criteria influence your person perception?
- Characteristics of the person you’re evaluating
- Your opinion of yourself
- Your goals in the encounter
- Specific situation in which the encounter happens
Implicit Personality Theory
The idea that groups of people share similar traits
Attribution
The process of inferring the motivation behind a behavior
Just-World Hypothesis
The assumption that life is fair
Self-serving bias
Tendency to attribute one’s successes to oneself and one’s failure to external circumstances
More common in individualist societies
Self-effacing bias
Tendency to attribute one’s failures to oneself and one’s successes to external situational factors
More common in collectivist societies
Implicit Attitude Test (IAT)
The most common test used to implicit attitudes and preferences
Implicit Attitude
Judgements that are unconscious, automatic, and difficult to control
Robber’s Cave Experiment
An experiment in which several boys were placed into arbitrary groups and made to participate in a series of competitive games
Rivalry between the groups developed, but evaporated when the groups were given a task in which they had to work together
What 6 factors make you more likely to conform to group norms?
- Facing a unanimous group of 4-5 people
- Having to give your answer in front of a group
- You have not already expressed agreement to a different idea or opinion
- The task is ambiguous or difficult
- You are unsure of your knowledge or competence in the situation
- You are strongly attracted to the group and want to be a part of it
Who developed the electric chair experiment?
Stanley Milgram
