C18: Social Psychology

• Social Psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another
• Social thinking has two types of theories; Attribution Theory and Fundamental Attribution Theory
• Attribution Theory is situation vs disposition; an action that influences judgement vs a person's personality
• Fundamental Attribution Theory is the tendency when judging others to underestimate the situation and overestimate the disposition
• Attitudes have strong impacts on actions

  1. Outside Influences (Eg. Peer pressure)
  2. Attitude is specifically relevant to behavior - shows actions and maintains attitude
  3. Being aware of ones attitude - reminds wearer to stop a habit/action (Eg. Promise rings)
• "Looking-glass" effect/Mirror is the effect of seeing yourself do something you don't want to do
• Foot-In-Door Phenomenon is when asked a small request leads to a bigger request
• Door-In-Face Phenomenon is when asked a big request leads to a smaller request
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory is the reduction of discomfort from two inconsistent thoughts
• Low-Ball Effect is the effect when offered something attractive leads to something less attractive
• That's-Not-All Effect is the effect when offered something attractive leads to something even more attractive
• Zimbardo Prison Experiment; the purpose was to study prison life and its psychological effects
• Lucifer Effect & Hero Effect believes that there is both good and evil in everyone
• Conformity is the adjustment of our behavior/thinking to coincide with a groups standard
• Chameleon Effect is the unconscious mimicry of another's behavior; is used a lot when being empathetic and sympathizing with others to connect
• Solomon Asch experimented on conformity where actors would say wrong answers to see if participants would conform due to peer pressure
• Conformity Strengthens...

  • when feeling incompetent/insecure
  • in a group of 3 or more
  • all are in agreement
  • admiration of a group's status and attractiveness
  • no prior commitment to any response
  • knowing others will observe your behavior
  • from a culture that strongly accepts social norms
• Normative Social Influence is the desire to gain approval/avoid disapproval
• Informational Social Influence is the acceptance of others opinion on reality
• The Stanley Milgram Experiment was based off of people's obedience when given an order. He wanted to see how far participants would go when peer pressured
• Obedience is high when...

  • Person in charge was nearby and seemed trustworthy
  • Authority figure is supported by a respectful institution
  • There are no role models for defiance
  • Victim was depersonalized or distanced
• Social Facilitation is the improvement in for simple/well-learned tasks from others presence (Eg. Study groups)
• Social Loafing is the tendacy to put in less effort for one common goal; less likely to loaf if they care about the group, most likely to loaf if unfamiliar with group (Eg. Group projects)
• Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness and self-restrain in group situation that omit arousal anonymity (Eg. Zimbardo Prison Experiment)
• Group Polarization is the enhancement of a groups common beliefs through discussions; shift in choice/attitude after group interaction
• Group Think is the desire of harmony/conformity which results in poor judgement
• Prejudice is an unjustifiable attitude towards a group and its members
• Sterotype is a generalized belief about a group/person
• Discrimination is an unjustifiable behavior toward a group and its members; Prejudice and action
• Ethnocentrism is the evaluation of others cultures with ones own standards and customs of their culture; comparing
• Tokenism is a trivial positive action towards a minority group to not be accountable of anything meaningful; Fake representation (women, LGBTQ+, POC, etc.)
• Ingroup is a group of people that share a common identity; usage of "us"
• Outgroup is a group of people that are different than the ingroup; usage of "them"
• Ingroup Bias is the tendency to favor our own group
• Scapegoat Theory is the theory of prejudice that offers an emotional outlet of frustration and anger towards someone; outgroup is usually used for blame
• Just-World Phenomenon is the tendency to believe that the world is just and that people deserve what they get/recieve
• Aggression is the physical/verbal behavior with intent to hurt/destroy others
• Frustration-Aggression Principle is the blockage of ones' goal; frustration becomes aggressive
• Hostile Aggression is a type of behavior that wants to harm/destroy one
• Instrumental Aggression is an aggressive behavior meant to achieve a goal that harms the victim