Social psychology Flashcards
Social psychology
how we think about, influence, and relate
to one another
Attribution theory
We may explain people’s behavior in terms of stable, enduring traits (a
dispositional attribution) or in terms of the situation (a situational
attribution).
* For example, a teacher may explain a child’s hostility in terms of an aggressive
personality or as a reaction to stress
Fundamental attribution error
Our tendency to overestimate personality influences and to
underestimate situational influences
Attitudes
feelings influenced by our beliefs, that
predispose our reactions to objects, people, and events
Cooperative actions
such as those performed by people on sports
teams, feed mutual liking.
role
A set of expectations (norms) about a social position define how
those in the position ought to behave.
Cognitive dissonance theory
People feel discomfort when their actions conflict with their
attitudes
Persuasion
people try to influence us to change our
attitudes or behaviors
Peripheral route persuasion
Uses attention-getting cues to trigger speedy, emotion-based judgments
Central route persuasion
Uses evidence and arguments to trigger careful thinking.
Conformity
Adjusting our behavior or thinking toward some group standard.
Solomon Asch
people are most likely to
adjust their behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard in
the following circumstances
~ when everyone else agrees
Normative social influence
Influence resulting from a
person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
Informational social influence
Influence resulting from
one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
Milgram
Shocking experiment where people obeyed even if they knew they shouldn’t continue shocking the person
Social facilitation (Triplett)
presence of others arouses people, improving performance
on easy or well-learned tasks but decreasing performance on
difficult tasks
Social loafing
people in groups put less effort
Altruism
unselfish concern for the welfare of others
