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Unit 9: Social Psychology

Terms in this set (44)

Attribution Theory
The theory that we either attribute people's behaviors to "dispositional" or "situational" factors
Dispositional
attributing the cause of behavior to the core of who a person is "he's just a bad person"
Situational Attribution
Attributing the cause of behavior to external factors - "yeah that was mean, but maybe he's had a really tough day"
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency for people to use dispositional attributions for negative behaviors instead of situational attributions
Central Route of Persuasion
If you make a decision based on facts and logic from an argument, you used the ___________ route of persuasion.
Peripheral Route of Persuasion
If you make a decision based on superficial qualities (e.g. attractiveness, niceness, mood,...) You used the ___________ route of persuasion.
Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon
People tend to agree to large requests more often when they have previously agreed to a small one
Role
a set of expectations about a social position which defines how those in that position must behave
Cognitive Dissonance
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
Stanley Milgram
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.
In Stanley Milgram's original shock experiment, what percentage of people went "all the way" to the supposedly lethal shock
2/3 (67%) - in the original 1960's experiment, 8 out of the 12 people went "all the way"
Conformity
The process of adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide to the group's
Normative social influence
Type of conformity stemming from a desire "to fit in" or gain approval
Informational Social Influence
Type of conformity based on lack of information ("maybe they know something I don't...")
Social Facilitation
The phenomenon where people will perform better in the presence of other people
Social Loafing
The tendency for some people to exert less effort in a group than they might on their own
Group Polarization
The process whereby a person's beliefs become stronger after discussion in a group
Deindividuation
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)
Groupthink
The phenomenon whereby individuals inside of groups often overestimate the level of agreement inside of the group.
Culture
The behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a grou of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
Norms
Rules for accepted and expected behavior
Prejudice
The negative thoughts directed toward individuals in a particular outgroup
Discrimination
The negative actions directed toward individuals in a particular outgroup
Stereotypes
The overgeneralization of attributes of a particular outgroup (e.g. "All ____ are ____")
In-Group
The social groups with which we identify (e.g. "American", "McGuinness",...")
Out-Group
The social groups that we do not belong to
In-group Bias
The phenomenon where people tend to like the groups that they belong to and dislike the groups that they don't
Other-race effect
We have an easier time identifying faces of our own race than those of other races
Out-group Homogeneity Effect
Individuals in an out-group look more similar than individuals in our in-group
Just-World Phenomenon
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"
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
The theory that frustration causes anger which can cause aggression
Mere Exposure Effect
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
Altruism
The unselfish regard for the welfare of others - a completely unselfish deed
Social Exchange Theory
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
Bystander Effect (because of the Diffusion of Responsibility)
The tendency for a person to be less likely to help in a situation the more people that there are around
Reciprosity Norm
When people do something good for us, we have a natural tendency to do something good back
Social Responsibility Norm
People tend to have a natural desire to help those in need
Mirror-image perceptions
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)
Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
When a person acts in a way that confirms others' perceptions of them
Solomon Asch
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
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%
Superordinate Goals
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?
Door-in-the-Face
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"
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