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Social Psychology

Terms in this set (136)

Social psychology
The scientific study of the causes and consequences of people's thoughts, feelings, and actions regarding themselves and other people
Social cognition
The way an individual understands his or her own social world
Social cognition perspective
Focuses on how people perceive, remember, and interpret events and individuals, including themselves, in their social world
Evolutionary perspective
A view that humans are a species of animal that their social behavior is a consequence of particular evolved adaptations
Cultural perspective
A view that focuses on the influence of culture on thought, feeling and behavior
Culture animals
Humans are animals who view reality through a set of symbols provided by the culture in which they are raised
Existential perspective
Focuses on the cognitive, affective and behavioral consequences of basic aspects of the human condition such as the knowledge of mortality, the desire for meaning, and the precarious nature of identity
Neuroscience perspective
The study of the neural processes that occur during social judgment and behavior. Neuroscience involves assessments of brain waves, brain imaging and cardiovascular functioning
Dispositions
Consistent preferences, ways of thinking, and behavioral tendencies that manifest across varying situations and over time
Scientific method
Process of developing, testing, and refining theories to understand the determinants of social behavior
Attribution theory
The view that people act as intuitive scientists when they observe other people's behavior and infer explanations as to why those people acted the way they did
Causal attributions
Explanations of why an individual engaged in a particular action
Cognitive misers
A term that conveys the human tendency to avoid expending effort and cognitive resources when thinking and to prefer seizing on quick and easy answers to questions
A priori causal theories
Preexisting theories, acquired from culture or factors that are particularly prominent in conscious attention at the moment
Confirmation bias
The tendency to view events and people in ways that fit how we want and expect them to be
Correlational method
Research in which two or more variables are measured and compared to determine to what extent if any they are associated
Correlational coefficients
A positive or negative numerical value that shows the direction and the strength of a relationship between two variables
Reverse causality problem
A correlation between variables x and y may occur because one causes the other, but it is often impossible to determine if x causes y or y causes x
Third variable problem
The possibility that two variables may be correlated but do not exert a causal influence on one another, rather, both are caused by some additional variable
Longitudinal studies
Studies in which variables are measured in the same individuals over two or more periods of time, typically over months or years
Experimental method
Study in which a researcher manipulates a variable, referred to as the independent variable, measures possible effects on another variable, referred to as the dependent variable, and tries to hold all other variables constant
Internal validity
The judgment that for a particular experiment it is possible to conclude that the manipulated independent variable caused the change in the measured dependent variable
Interaction
A pattern of results in which the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable depends on the level of a second independent variable
Field research
Occurs outside lab
Quasi-experimental designs:
Type of research in which groups of participants are compared on some dependent variable, but for practical or ethical reasons, the groups are not formed on the basis of random assignment
Parsimonious
Explains a wide range of observations with little principles
Operational definition
A specific, concrete method of measuring or manipulating a conceptual variable
Construct validity
The degree to which the dependent measure assesses what it intends to assess or the manipulation manipulates what it intends to manipulate
Confound
A variable other than the conceptual variable intended to be manipulated that may be responsible for the effect on the dependent variable, making alternative explanations possible
Conceptual replication
The repetition of a study with different operationalizations of the crucial variables but yielding similar results
External validity
The judgment that a research finding can be generalized to other people, in other settings, in other nations, etc.
WEIRD
Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic
Cover story
An explanation of the purpose of the study that is different from the true purpose
Demand characteristics
Aspects of a study that give away its purpose or communicate how the participant is expected to behave
Experimenter bias:
Possibility that experimenter's knowledge of the condition could affect her behavior toward the participant and thereby
Debriefing
Participants are assessed for any suspicion and then receive a gentle explanation of the true nature of the study
Self-concept
a person's knowledge about him or herself, including one's own traits, social identities, and experiences
Ego
the aspect of self that directs one's thoughts and actions
Social identity theory
the theory that people define and value themselves largely in terms of the social groups with which they identify
Social role theory
the theory that gender differences in behavior, personality, and self-definition arise because of a long history of role distribution between the sexes
Self-schema
an integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalizations about an attribute that is part of one's self-concept
Working self-concept
The portion of one's self-schema that is currently activated and strongly influences thoughts, feelings and actions
Solo status
A sense that one is unique in some specific manner in relation to other people in the current environment
Symbolic interactionism
the perspective that people use their understanding of how significant people in their lives view them as the primary basis for knowing and evaluating themselves
Looking glass self
the idea that significant people in our lives reflect back to us (much like a looking glass) who we are by how they behave toward us
Appraisals
what other people think about us
Generalized other
a mental representation of how people, on average, appraise the self
Reflected appraisals
what we think other people think about us
Social comparison theory
the theory that people come to know themselves partly by comparing themselves with similar others
Downward comparison
comparing oneself with people who are worse off
Upward comparison
comparing oneself with those who are better off
Better than average effect
the tendency to rank oneself higher than most people on positive attributes
Self-perception theory
the theory that people sometimes infer their attitudes and attributes by observing their behavior and the situation in which it occurs
Two-factor theory of emotion
the theory that people's emotions are the product of both their arousal level and how they interpret that arousal
Misattribution of arousal
ascribing arousal resulting from one source to a different source
Excitation transfer theory
the idea that leftover arousal caused by an initial event can intensify emotional reactions to a second event
Self-regulation
the process of guiding one's thoughts, feelings, and behavior to reach desired goals
Self-awareness theory
the theory that aspects of the self - one's attitudes, values, and goals - will be most likely to influence behavior when attention is focused on the self
Self-discrepancy theory
the theory that people feel anxiety when they fall short of how they ought to be, but feel sad when they fall short of how they ideally want to be
Expectancy-value theory
the theory that effort is based on the value or desirability of the goal, multiplied by the person's assessment of how likely it is that she will be able to attain the goal
Auto-motive theory
the theory that even subtle exposure to goal-related stimuli can automatically activate the goal and guide behavior
Action identification theory
the theory that explains how people conceive of action - their own or others' - in ways that range from very concrete to very abstract
Construal level theory
the theory that people focus more on concrete details when thinking about the near future, but focus more on abstract meaning when thinking about the distant future
Affective forecasting
predicting what one's emotion reactions to potential future events will be
Ironic processing
the idea that the more we try not to think about something, the more those thoughts enter our mind and distract us from other things
Monitor
the mental process that is on the lookout for signs of unwanted thoughts
Operator
the mental process that actively pushes any signs of the unwanted thoughts out of consciousness
Ego depletion
the idea that ego strength becomes depleted by extended bouts of self-control
Cognitive reappraisals
the cognitive reframing of a situation to minimize one's emotional reaction to it
Implementation intentions
mental rules that link particular situational cues to goal-directed behaviors←makes you better at following through
Self-regulatory perseveration theory of depression
the theory that one way in which people can fall into depression is by persistent self-focus on an unattainable goal
Self-esteem
the level of positive feeling one has about oneself
Self-handicapping
placing obstacles in the way of one's own success to protect self-esteem from a possible future failure
Theory of symbolic self-completion
the idea that when people perceive that a self-defining aspect is threatened, they feel incomplete, and then try to compensate by acquiring and displaying symbols that support their desired self-definitions
Compensation
after a blow to self-esteem in one domain, people often shore up their overall sense of self-worth by bolstering how they think of themselves in an unrelated domain
Self-affirmation theory
the idea that people respond less defensively to threats to one aspect of themselves if they think about another valued aspect of themselves
Basking in reflected glory
associating oneself with successful others to help bolster one's own self-esteem
Self-evaluation maintenance model
the idea that people adjust their perceived similarity to successful others to minimize threatening comparisons and maximize self-esteem-supporting identifications.
Anxiety buffer
the idea that self-esteem allows people to face threats with their anxiety minimized
Sociometer model
the idea that a basic function of self-esteem is to indicate to the individual how much he or she is accepted by other people
Self-compassion
being kind to ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, recognizing that imperfection is part of the human condition, and accepting rather than denying negative feelings about ourselves
The dramaturgical perspective
using the theater as a metaphor, the idea that people like actors, perform according to a script. If we all know the script and play our parts well, then like a successful play, our social interactions flow smoothly and seem meaningful, and each actor benefits
Self-monitoring
an individual difference in people's desire and ability to adjust their self-presentations for different audiences
Spotlight effect
the belief that others are more focused on us than they actually are
Illusion of transparency
the tendency to overestimate another's ability to know our internal thoughts and feelings
Self-determination theory
the idea that people function best when they feel that their actions stem from their own desires rather than from external forces
Locus of control
the extent to which a person believes that either internal or external factors determine life outcomes
Overjustification effect
the tendency for salient rewards or threats to lead people to attribute the reason, or justification, for engaging in an activity to an external factor, which thereby undermines their intrinsic motivation for an enjoyment of the activity
Flow
the feeling of being completely absorbed in an activity that is appropriately challenging to one's skills
Mindfulness
the state of being and acting fully in the current moment
Short-term memory
information and input that is currently activated
Misinformation effect
the process by which cues that are given after an event can plant false information into memory
Long-term memory
information from past experience that may or may not be currently activated
Availability heuristic
the tendency to assume that information that comes easily to mind (or is readily available) is more frequent or common
Ease of retrieval effect
process whereby people judge how frequently an event occurs on the basis of how easily they can retrieve examples of that event
Causal attribution
the explanation that people use for what caused a particular event or behavior
Locus of causality
attribution of behavior to either an aspect of the actor (internal) or to some aspect of the situation (external)
Correspondent inference
the tendency to attribute to the actor an attitude, desire, or trait that corresponds to the action.
Fundamental attribution error (FAE)
the tendency to attribute behavior to internal or dispositional qualities of the actor and consequently underestimate the causal role of situational factors
Actor-observer effect
the tendency to make internal attributions for the behavior of others and external attributions for our own behavior
Covariation principle
the tendency to see a causal relationship between an event and an outcome when they happen at the same time
Discounting principle
the tendency to reduce the importance of any potential cause of another's behavior to the extent that other potential causes exist
Magical thinking
the tendency to believe that simply having thoughts about an event before it occurs can influence that event
Fusiform face area
a region in the temporal lobe of the brain that helps us recognize the people we know
Prosopagnosia
the inability to recognize familiar faces
Theory of mind
a set of ideas about other peoples' thoughts, desires, feelings, and intentions based on what we know about them and the situation they are in
Mirror neurons
certain neurons that are activated both when one performs an action oneself and when one simply observes another person perform that action
Transference
a process whereby we activate schemas of a person we know and use the schemas to form an impression of someone new
False consensus
a general tendency to assume that other people share our own attitudes, opinions and preferences
Halo effect
the tendency of social perceivers' assessments of an individual on a given trait to be biased by the perceivers' more general impression of the individual
Representativeness heuristic
the tendency to overestimate the likelihood that a target is part of a larger category if it has features that seem representative of that category
Primacy effect
the idea that what we learn early colors how we judge subsequent information
Upward counterfactuals
Imagined alternative where the outcome is better than what actually happened
Downward counterfactuals
Imagined worse alternative outcomes to something that actually happened
Cognitive system
a conscious, rational, and controlled system of thinking
Experiential system
an unconscious, intuitive, and automatic system of thinking
Dual process theories
theories that are used to explain a wide range of phenomena by positing two ways of processing information
Heuristics
mental short cuts, or rules of thumb, that are used for making judgments and decisions
Implicit attitudes
Automatic associations based on previous learning through the experiential system
Explicit attitudes
attitudes people are consciously aware of through the cognitive system
Somatic marker hypothesis
the idea that changes in the body, experienced as emotion, guide decision making
Categories
mental "containers" in which people place things that are similar to each other
Schemas
a mental structure, stored in memory, that is based on prior knowledge
Impressions
schemas people have about other individuals
Self-concept
a schema people have about themselves
Accessibility
the ease with which people can bring an idea into consciousness and use it in thinking
Salience
the aspect of a schema that is active in one's mind and, consciously or not, colors perceptions and behavior
Priming
the process by which exposure to a stimulus in the environment increases the salience of a schema
Associative networks
models for how pieces of information are linked together and stored in memory
Semantic associations
mental links between two concepts that are similar in meaning or that are parts of the same category
Experimental associations
mental links between two concepts that are experienced close together in time or space
Chronically accessible schemas
schemas that are easily brought to mind because they are personally important and used frequently
Assimilation effects
occur when priming a schema (e.g., reckless) changes a person's thinking in the direction of the primed idea (e.g., perceiving others as more reckless)
Contrast effects
occur when priming a schema (e.g., reckless) changes a person's thinking in the opposite direction of the primed idea (e.g., perceiving others as less reckless)
Self-fulfilling prophecy
the phenomenon whereby initially false expectations cause the fulfillment of those expectations
Metaphors
a cognitive tool that allows people to understand an abstract concept in terms of a dissimilar, concrete concept
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