Social Psychology Flashcards
Attributions
Inferences that people make about the causes of events and behavior.
Attribution Theory
A theory about how people explain the causes of behavior, by attributing it either to “internal” factors (motives, attitudes, values) or external situations.
Bystander Effect
When the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation, against a bully, or during an assault or other crime.
Cognitive Dissonance
Discomfort or tension that arises from holding two or more psychologically incompatible thoughts at the same time.
Collectivism
Giving a group priority over each individual in it.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.
Dispositional Attribution
An explanation of someone’s behavior that focuses on the person’s traits and other personal characteristics.
Experimental Research
Studies that explore cause–effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors, while controlling others.
Fundamental Attribution Error
Perceivers’ tendency to underestimate the impact of situational factors on human behavior and to overestimate the impact of dispositional factors.
Groupthink
Psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in bad decision making.
Hindsight Bias
The common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were.
Impact Bias
The tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of future emotional states.
Learned Helplessness
The sense of hopelessness learned when a human or animal sees repeated bad events as uncontrollable.
Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe that they have control over the outcome of events in their lives.
Self-Efficacy
A sense that one is competent and effective.
Social Exchange Theory
The theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s rewards and minimize one’s costs.
Spotlight Effect
The phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are.
