Social Psychology Flashcards
Attribution
Explanation for events or actions
Personal Attribution
based on internal characteristics as abilities, traits, moods, or efforts
ex. Attributing roller coaster riding to being a thrill seeker
Situational Attribution
based on external factors such as luck, accident, or other people’s actions
ex. Attributing roller coaster riding to a dare given by a friend
Fundamental Attribution Error
humans have the tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining other people’s behavior
Actor/ Observer Bias
When interpreting your own behavior, you tend to focus on situations; when interpreting others we tend to focus on personal attributes
Attitude
Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a certain way to objects, people, or events. Attitude affects behavior and behavior affects attitude
More exposure effect
Greater exposure leads to more positive attitude toward the item
Learning
Associations between things and meanings condition your attitude (ex. Pairing a celeb with a product conditions a positive attitude towards it)
Socialization
Observing other people’s attitudes, then modeling them through your own behavior
Cognitive Dissonance
- Uncomfortable mental state due to a contradiction between two attitudes or between an attitude and a behavior (ex. Smoking knowing they believe that smoking will kill them)
-Tendency to reduce discomfort from the dissonance by their changing one’s attitude or one’s belief (ex. Smoker might quit to align with beliefs)
Justification of Effort
Fesitinger and Carlsmith Study: $1 or $20
Groupthink
The tendency to make bad decisions because of the illusion that the plan of action is a good one and is supported by all the members of the group
Social Facilitation
When the mere presence of others improves performance
Social Loafing
The tendency of people to work less hard in a group than when they’re alone
Deindividuation
A state of reduced self awareness and reduced attention to personal standards; may occur when people are part of a group
Stanford Prison Experiment:
participants may experience deindividuation if an officer was partnered with another guard they may be more violent than they otherwise would’ve been
losing their own identities contributed
Example of deindividuation
Stanford Prison Experiment:
participants may experience deindividuation if an officer was partnered with another guard they may be more violent than they otherwise would’ve been
losing their own identities contributed
Group Polarization
the tendency for people to hold even more extreme views on topics after a group discussion of like minded people. Ex. Only watching one news source all the time
Risky Shift Effect
occurs when people are more likely to take more extreme/risky actions when acting as part of a group, compared with acting individually. Ex. Being part of a peaceful protest that turns violent
Conformity
altering your behaviors or opinions to match those of other people or to match other people’s expectations.
Normative Influence
going along with the group so they will like you
Informational Influence
going along with the group because you think they know more than they do.
Persuasion
the active and conscious effort to change an attitude through the transmission of a message
Foot in the Door Approach
- based on the idea if you ask people to do a small thing first they are much more likely to comply with a larger request later.
- refusing the request would lead to cognitive dissonance
- if they did it once, why wouldn’t they do it again
Door in the Face Approach
- begin by asking for a large request they are likely to refuse and then ask them for a smaller request they are likely to comply
- refusing to comply would challenge their sense of reciprocity/compromise
- They adjusted their request, so why should you adjust yours?
Central Route
involves reason and logic and highly motivated audience to think and make decisions about the topic at hand, more strong persuasive power for a long period of time
Peripheral Route
relies on emotion or other superficial factors if audience is not motivated to think about the topic or make decisions, temporary persuasive power for a short period of time
Insufficient Justification Effect
people are more likely to engage in a behavior that contradicts the beliefs they hold personally when offered a smaller reward compared to a larger reward.
