Social Psychology Vocab Exam Flashcards
(50 cards)
unselfish regard for the welfare of others
Prosocial behavior
how the actions of others shape the way we as individuals think and behave
Social influence theory
how people assign causes to behaviors and events
Attribution theory
explanations based on a person’s characteristics, traits, or personality
Dispositional attribution / Person attribution
explanations that relate to the external environment or circumstances
Situation attribution
one’s belief or expectation about a situation leads to actions that cause belief to come true
Self-fulfilling prophecy
aspects of the environment that can influence an individual’s behavior or performance
Situational variables
a common cognitive bias where people tend to overemphasize internal factors and underestimate external factors when explaining other people’s behvaiors
Fundamental attribution error
the tendency to attribute one’s own actions to situational factors, and other’s to dispositional factors
Actor-observer bias
a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate how many others share their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
False-consensus effect
how we explain our behavior depending on whether the outcome of our behavior is positive or negative
Self-serving bias
the tendency for people to believe the world is just and people get what they deserve
Just-world phenomenon
a person’s feelings or opinions about someone or something, or the way someone behaves or thinks
Attitude
people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar to them
Mere-exposure effect
a theory of persuasion that explains how people process persuasive messages, suggesting two main routes: central route and peripheral route
Elaboration likelihood model
involves people carefully thinking about and evaluating the content of a message, leading to more lasting and stronger attitude changes than the peripheral route
Central route
methods that rely on superficial cues and heuristics rather than the strength of the arguments themselves
Peripheral route
the process of using communication to influence another person’s attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors
Persuasion
people experience psychological discomfort when their actions or beliefs contradict their values, leading them to seek ways to reduce this discomfort and restore consistency
Cognitive dissonance theory
ask for small commitment, after obtaining, ask for larger commitment
Foot-in-the-door technique
ask for large commitment, after refusal, make smaller, more reasonable request
Door-in-the-face technique
expectation to return help not harm to those who have helping us
Social reciprocity norm
unwritten rules and expectations that govern behavior within a society, shaping what is considered acceptable or unacceptable in various contexts
Social norms
help others in need without expectation of reward
Social responsibility norm
