Social Psychology Flashcards
aggression
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
Cognitive dissonance
Occurs when two thoughts or cognitions, are variance with one another
Social exchange theory
Our social behavior revolves around exchanges in which we try to minimize our costs and maximize our benefits
Group polarization
The enhancement of a group’s prevailing tendencies through discussion
Social responsibility norm
The expectation that people will help those who depend on them
GRIT )Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction)
A strategy of conflict resolution based on the defusing effect that conciliatory gestures can have on parties in conflict
equity
The condition in which there is mutual giving and receiving between the partners in a relationship
Groupthink
The unrealistic though processes and decision making that occur within groups when the desire for group harmony overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
attitudes
Feelings, often based on beliefs, that may predispose a person to respond in particular ways to objects, people and events
Reciprocity norm
The expectation that people will help those who have helped them
Attribution theory
Deals with our causal explanations of behavior
Deindividuation
The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint that sometimes occurs in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
Passionate love
An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another person
Foot in the door phenomenon
The tendency for people who agree to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Social psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another
prejudice
An unjustifiable attitude toward a group and its members
altruism
Unselfish regard for the welfare of others
Superordinate goals
Mutual goals that require the cooperation of individuals or groups otherwise in conflict
Social trap
A situation in which conflicting parties become caught up in mutually harmful behavior as they pursue their perceived best interest
Social facilitation
The improvement in performance of simple or well learned tasks that occurs when other people are present
Frustration aggression principle
Aggression is triggered when people become angry because their efforts to achieve a goal have been blocked
Just world phenomenon
Manifestation of the commonly held belief that good is rewarded and evil is punished
Normative social influence
Refers to the pressure on individuals to conform in order to avoid rejection or gain social approval
Ingroup bias
The tendency to favor one’s own group
Scapegoat theory
Proposes that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by finding someone to blame
Mere exposure effect
Refers to the fact that repeated exposure to an unfamiliar stimulus increases our liking of it
Social loafing
The tendency for individual effort to be diminished when one is part of a group working toward a common goal
Informational social influence
One goes along with a group when one is willing to accept others’ opinions about reality
Bystander effect
The tendency of a person to be less likely to offer help to someone if there are other people present
Compassionate love
Deep, enduring, affectionate attachment
discrimination
Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency to underestimate the impact of situations and to overestimate the impact of personal dispositions upon the behavior of other
Self-disclosure
A person’s sharing intimate feelings with another
stereotype
A generalized belief about a group of people
Cognitive dissonance theory
Theory that we act to reduce the psychological discomfort we experience when our behavior conflicts with what we think and feel, or more generally, when two of our thoughts are inconsistent
conformity
The tendency to change one’s thinking or behavior to coincide with a group standard
conflict
A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals or ideas between individuals or groups
