Social Psychology

• Social Psychology


  the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

  
• Attribution Theory


  the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition.

  
• 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.

  
• Attitude


  feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

  
• Central Route Persuasion


  attitude change path in which interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

  
• Peripheral Route Persuasion


  attitude change path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness.

  
• Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon


  the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

  
• Role


  a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

  
• 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 discomfort by changing our attitudes.

  
• Conformity


  adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

  
• Normative Social Influence


  influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

  
• Informational Social Influence


  influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality.

  
• Social Facilitation


  stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

  
• 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.

  
• Deindividuation


  the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

  
• Group Polarization


  the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

  
• Groupthink


  the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

  
• Culture


  the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

  
• Social Norm


  an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. They prescribe "proper" behavior.

  
• Prejudice


  an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. It generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

  
• Stereotype


  a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.

  
• Discrimination


  (Social) unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

  
• Ingroup


  "Us"—people with whom we share a common identity.

  
• Outgroup


  "Them"—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.

  
• Ingroup Bias


  the tendency to favor our own group.

  
• Scapegoat Theory


  the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

  
• Other-Race Effect


  the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races. Also called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias

  
• Just-World Phenomenon


  the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

  
• Aggression


  physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

  
• Frustration-Aggression Principle


  the principle that frustration—the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal—creates anger, which can generate aggression.

  
• Mere Exposure Effect


  the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them.

  
• Passionate Love


  an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

  
• Companionate Love


  the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

  
• Equity


  a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.

  
• Self-Disclosure


  revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

  
• Altruism


  unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

  
• Bystander Effect


  the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

  
• Social Exchange Theory


  the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

  
• Reciprocity Norm


  an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

  
• Social-Responsibility Norm


  an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.