Social Psychology

Question 1

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 1

excessive mental stress and discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time

Question 2

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 2

• We attribute the behaviors of others to their enduring traits rather than the situation.
• We do not apply FAE to ourselves or to those we love, we tend to associate it to the situation

Ex: An employer interviews a new candidate. She appears nervous and awkward. He is more likely to attribute this to the candidate’s enduring personality traits rather than to the anxiety-provoking situation she is in.

Question 3

A More Sinister Example: Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Study

Answer 3

Shows the power of roles

Question 4

The Power of Conformity Experiment (Solomon Asch’s Conformity Study) & Elevator Experiment

Answer 4

Showed the power of conformity, how when people are around they agree or do the same thing to be accepted, avoid confrontation

Question 5

Social Facilitation

Answer 5

Perform better on easy, simple tasks when in a group. But we perform more poorly on complex tasks when in a group

Question 6

Deindividuation

Answer 6

esults in a loss of individual identity and a gaining of the social identity of the group.

Ex: Online Bullying.

Question 7

Group Polarization

Answer 7

Groups of like minded individuals tend to become more extreme in their views.

Question 8

Social Loafing

Answer 8

When people are in a group, they tend to put forth less effort.

Question 9

Groupthink

Answer 9

people strive for consensus within a group. In many cases, people will set aside their own personal beliefs or adopt the opinion of the rest of the group.