Quizlet Ch. 18: Social Psychology

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  1. aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
  2. altruism: unselfish regard for the welfare of others
  3. attitude: a belief and feeling tha predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
  4. attribution theory: the theory that we tend to give a casual explanation for someone's behavior, often by cerditing either the situation or the person's disposition
  5. bystander effect: the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
  6. cognitive dissonance theory: the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes
  7. compassionate love: the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined
  8. conflict: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
  9. conformity: adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
  10. deindividuation: the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint aoccurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
  11. equity: a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it
  12. foot-in-the-door phenomenon: the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
  13. frustration-aggression principle: the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger, which can generate aggression
  14. fundamental attribution error: the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
  15. GRIT: Graduation and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction- a strategy designed to decrease international tensions
  16. group polarization: the enhancement of a group's prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group
  17. group think: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
  18. informational social influence: influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality
  19. ingroup: "Us" - people with whom one shares a common identity
  20. ingroup bias: the tendency to favor one's own group
  21. just-world phenomenon: the tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
  22. mere exposure effect: the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
  23. normative social influence: influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
  24. outgroup: "Them" - those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup
  25. passionate love: an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship
  26. prejudice: an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotypical beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
  27. scapegoat theory: the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
  28. self-disclosure: revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
  29. social exchange theory: the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
  30. social facilitation: improved performance of tasks in the presence of others' occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered
  31. social loafing: the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
  32. social psychology: the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
  33. social trap: a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior
  34. stereotype: a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people
  35. superordinate goals: shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation