Chapter 13: Social Psychology

Front 1

Social psychology

Back 1

study of how people influence others' behavior, beliefs, and attitudes

Front 2

social comparison theory

Back 2

theory that we seek to evaluate our abilities and beliefs by comparing them with those of othes

Front 3

mass hysteria

Back 3

outbreak of irrational behavior that is spread by social contagion

Front 4

social facilitation

Back 4

enhancement of performance brought about by the presence of others

Front 5

attribution

Back 5

process of assigning causes to behavior

Front 6

fundamental attribution error

Back 6

tendency to overestimate the impact of dispositional influences on other people's behavior

Front 7

conformity

Back 7

tendency of people to alter their behavior as a result of group pressure

Front 8

deindividuation

Back 8

tendency of people to engage in uncharacteristic behavior when they are stripped of their usual identities

Front 9

groupthink

Back 9

emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking

Front 10

group polarization

Back 10

tendency of group discussion to strengthen the dominant positions held by individual group members

Front 11

cult

Back 11

group of individuals who exhibit intense and unquestioning devotion to a single cause

Front 12

inoculation effect

Back 12

approach to convincing people to change their minds about something by first introducing reasons why the perspective might be correct and then debunking them

Front 13

obedience

Back 13

adherence to instructions from those of higher authority

Front 14

pluralistic ignorance

Back 14

error of assuming that no one in a group perceives things as we do

Front 15

diffusion of responsibility

Back 15

reduction in feelings of personal responsibility in the presence of others

Front 16

social loafing

Back 16

phenomenon whereby individuals become less productive in groups

Front 17

altruism

Back 17

helping others for unselfish reasons

Front 18

relational aggression

Back 18

form of indirect aggression, prevalent in girls, involving spreading rumors, gossiping, and nonverbal putdowns for the purpose of social manipulation

Front 19

attitude

Back 19

belief that includes an emotional component

Front 20

self-monitoring

Back 20

personality trait that assesses the extent to which people's behavior reflects their true feelings and attitudes

Front 21

cognitive dissonance

Back 21

unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or beliefs

Front 22

self-perception theory

Back 22

theory that we acquire our attitudes by observing our behaviors

Front 23

impression management theory

Back 23

we dont really change our attitudes, but report that we have so that our behaviors appear consistent with our attitudes

Front 24

foot-in-the-door technique

Back 24

persuasive technique involving making a small request before making a bigger one

Front 25

door-in-the-face technique

Back 25

persuasive technique involving making an unreasonably large request before making the small request we're hoping to have granted

Front 26

low-ball technique

Back 26

persuasive technique in which the seller of a product starts by quoting a low sales price, and then mentions all of the "add-on" costs once the customer has agreed to purchase the product

Front 27

prejudice

Back 27

drawing negative conclusions about a person, group of people, or situation prior to evaluating the evidence

Front 28

stereotype

Back 28

a belief, positive or negative, about the characteristics of members of a group that is applied generally to most members of the group

Front 29

ultimate attribution error

Back 29

assumption that behaviors among individual members of a group are due to their internal dispositions

Front 30

adaptive conservation

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evolutionary principle that creates a predisposition toward distrusting anything or anyone unfamiliar or different

Front 31

in-group bias

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tendency to favor individuals within our group over those from outside our group

Front 32

out-group homogeneity

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tendency to view all individuals outside our group as highly similar

Front 33

discrimination

Back 33

negative behavior toward members of out-groups

Front 34

scapegoat hypothesis

Back 34

claim that prejudice arises from a need to blame other groups for our misfortune

Front 35

just-world hypothesis

Back 35

claim that our attributions and behaviors are shaped by a deep-seated assumption that the world is fair and all things happen for a reason

Front 36

explicit prejudice

Back 36

unfounded negative belief of which we're aware regarding the characteristics of an out-group

Front 37

implicit prejudice

Back 37

unfounded negative belief of which we're unaware regarding the characteristics of an out-group

Front 38

jigsaw classroom

Back 38

educational approach designed to minimize prejudice by requiring all children to make independent contributions to a shared project