Unit 14: Social Psychology Flashcards
The theory that we either attribute people’s behaviors to “dispositional” or “situational” factors
Attribution Theory
attributing the cause of behavior to the core of who a person is “he’s just a bad person”
Dispositional
Attributing the cause of behavior to external factors - “yeah that was mean, but maybe he’s had a really tough day”
Situational Attribution
The tendency for people to use dispositional attributions for negative behaviors instead of situational attributions
Fundamental Attribution Error
If you make a decision based on facts and logic from an argument, you used the ___________ route of persuasion.
Central Route of Persuasion
If you make a decision based on superficial qualities (e.g. attractiveness, niceness, mood,…) You used the ___________ route of persuasion.
Peripheral Route of Persuasion
People tend to agree to large requests more often when they have previously agreed to a small one
Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon
a set of expectations about a social position which defines how those in that position must behave
Role
The theory that states that when any two attitudes or behaviors don’t agree (aren’t consistent) - we act or change our thoughts to MAKE them agree
Cognitive Dissonance
The experimenter from the “shock experiment” in the 1960’s that examined how much of a painful electric shock a normal person would be willing to give a stranger.
Stanley Milgram
In Stanley Milgram’s original shock experiment, what percentage of people went “all the way” to the supposedly lethal shock
2/3 (67%)
The process of adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide to the group’s
Conformity
Type of conformity stemming from a desire “to fit in” or gain approval
Normative social influence
Type of conformity based on lack of information (“maybe they know something I don’t…”)
Informational Social Influence
The phenomenon where people will perform better in the presence of other people
Social Facilitation
The tendency for some people to exert less effort in a group than they might on their own
Social Loafing
The process whereby a person’s beliefs become stronger after discussion in a group
Group Polarization
The loss of self-awareness and disinhibition as a result of being a part of a large group (e.g. The man in the riot broke a store window)
Deindividuation
The phenomenon whereby individuals inside of groups often overestimate the level of agreement inside of the group.
Groupthink
The behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a grou of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
Culture
Rules for accepted and expected behavior
Norms
The negative thoughts directed toward individuals in a particular outgroup
Prejudice
The negative actions directed toward individuals in a particular outgroup
Discrimination
The overgeneralization of attributes of a particular outgroup (e.g. “All ____ are ____”)
Stereotypes
The social groups with which we identify (e.g. “American”, “McGuinness”,…”)
In-Group
The social groups that we do not belong to
Out-Group
The phenomenon where people tend to like the groups that they belong to and dislike the groups that they don’t
In-group Bias
We have an easier time identifying faces of our own race than those of other races
Other-race effect
Individuals in an out-group look more similar than individuals in our in-group
Out-group Homogeneity Effect
The tendency to believe that the world is a fair and good place - therefore, people (and people groups) that do well and succeed are “good” and people (or groups) that don’t are “bad”
Just-World Phenomenon
The theory that frustration causes anger which can cause aggression
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
We tend to like people more the more we are exposed to them
Mere Exposure Effect
If you want to get over your prejudice toward a people group (e.g. Canadians), you should interact with some of them
Mere Exposure Effect
The unselfish regard for the welfare of others - a completely unselfish deed
Altruism
Every action that we do is the result of a cost-benefit analysis. We examine the pros and cons of any given situation and do the action that maximises the pros and minimizes the cons
Social Exchange Theory
The tendency for a person to be less likely to help in a situation the more people that there are around
Bystander Effect (because of the Diffusion of Responsibility)
When people do something good for us, we have a natural tendency to do something good back
Reciprosity Norm
People tend to have a natural desire to help those in need
Social Responsibility Norm
The way in which outgroups see each other (evil and untrustworthy) - is very similar (i.e. We as Americans see those that we go to war against in a similar way that they see us, as evil - untrustworthy people)
Mirror-image perceptions
When a person acts in a way that confirms others’ perceptions of them
Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
Who was the researcher in the “line experiment” which examined the rate of correct responses when alone or in a group of people unanimously giving incorrect responses
Solomon Asch
In Solomon Asch’s famous line experiment, what percentage of people got at least one answer wrong when alone?
What percentage got at least one wrong when in a group giving incorrect answers?
<1%
75%
When groups that do not like each other are given tasks where they must work together, they tend to like each other more - what is the name for these tasks?
Superordinate Goals
When you start out with a very large request to make a subsequent small request more likely (e.g. “Will you give me $1000 dollars?” “NO!” “… can you give me a quarter to help me buy a soft drink?” “… fine”
Door-in-the-Face
