Psych 100 - Chapter 12

Front 1

social psychology

Back 1

the study of how people influence other people's thoughts, feelings and actions

Front 2

social brain hypothesis

Back 2

the theory that primates have large brains because they live in dynamic and complex social groups that change over time

Front 3

ingroups

Back 3

groups to which particular people belong to

Front 4

outgroups

Back 4

groups to which particular people do not belong to

Front 5

transitivity

Back 5

people generally share their friends' opinions of other people

Front 6

outgroup homogeneity effect

Back 6

the tendency to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup memebers

Front 7

social identity theory

Back 7

the idea that ingroups consist of individuals who perceive themselves to be members of the same social category and experience pride through their group membership

Front 8

ingroup favoritism

Back 8

the tendency for people to evaluate favorably and privilege members of the ingroup more than members of the outgroup

Front 9

social facilitation

Back 9

the idea that the presence of others generally enhances performance

Front 10

deindividuation

Back 10

a state of reduced individuality, reduced self-awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards; this phenomenon may occur when people are part of a group

Front 11

risky-shift effect

Back 11

groups often make riskier decisions than individuals do

Front 12

group polarization

Back 12

the process by which initial attitudes of groups become more extreme over time

Front 13

groupthink

Back 13

the tendency of groups to make bad decisions when the group is under pressure, facing external threats, and is biased

Front 14

social loafing

Back 14

the tendency for people to not work as hard in a group than when working alone

Front 15

conformity

Back 15

the altering of one's behaviors and opinions to match those of other people or to match other people's expectations

Front 16

normative influence

Back 16

the tendency for people to conform in order to fit in with the group

Front 17

informative influence

Back 17

the tendency for people to conform when they assume that the behavior of others represents the correct way to respond

Front 18

social norms

Back 18

expected standards of conduct, which influence behavior

Front 19

autokinetic effect

Back 19

effect in which a stationary point of light appears to move when viewed in complete darkness

Front 20

compliance

Back 20

the tendency to agree to do things requested by others

Front 21

foot-in-the-door effect

Back 21

the idea that if people agree to a small request, they become more likely to comply with a large and undesirable request

Front 22

obedience

Back 22

when a person follows the orders of a person of authority

Front 23

Stanley Milgram

Back 23

shock generator experiment

Front 24

aggression

Back 24

any behavior that involves the intention to harm another

Front 25

MAOA gene

Back 25

an enzyme that regulates the activity of a number of neurotransmitters, including serotonin and norepinephrine

Front 26

prosocial behaviors

Back 26

actions that tend to benefit others, such as doing favors or helping

Front 27

altruism

Back 27

providing help when it is needed, without any apparent reward for doing so

Front 28

inclusive fitness

Back 28

an explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive benefit of transmitting genes, such as through kin selection, rather than focusing on individual survival

Front 29

bystander intervention effect

Back 29

the failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need when other people are present

Front 30

attitudes

Back 30

people's evaluations of objects, of events or of ideas

Front 31

mere exposure effect

Back 31

the idea that greater exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking for it

Front 32

explicit attitudes

Back 32

attitudes that a person can report

Front 33

implicit attitudes

Back 33

attitudes that influence a person's feelings and behavior at an unconscious level

Front 34

cognitive dissonance

Back 34

an uncomfortable mental state resulting from a contradiction between two attitudes or between an attitude and a behavior

Front 35

Leon Festinger

Back 35

his theory of cognitive dissonance was an important influence on research in experimental social psychology

Front 36

postdecisional dissonance

Back 36

the individual will focus on the positive aspects of a certain choice (example, choosing schools) and view the other schools' negative aspects

Front 37

persuasion

Back 37

the active and conscious effort to change an attitude through the transmission of a message

Front 38

elaboration likelihood model

Back 38

the idea that persuasive messages lead to attitude changes in two ways: via the central route or via the peripheral route

Front 39

central route

Back 39

people are paying attention to the arguments, considering all the information, and using rational cognitive processes.

Front 40

peripheral route

Back 40

people minimally process the message.

Front 41

nonverbal behavior

Back 41

the facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms and movements by which one communicates with others

Front 42

attributions

Back 42

people's explanations for why events or actions occur

Front 43

personal attributions

Back 43

explanation of people's behavior that refer to their internal characteristics, such as abilities, traits, moods or efforts

Front 44

situational attributions

Back 44

explanations of people's behavior that refer to external events, such as the weather, luck accidents or other people's actions

Front 45

fundamental attribution error

Back 45

in explaining other people's behavior, the tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underestimate situational factors

Front 46

correspondence bias

Back 46

the expectancy that people's actions correspond with their beliefs and personalities

Front 47

actor/observer discrepency

Back 47

when interpreting their own behavior behavior, people tend to focus on situations. when interpreting other people's behaviors, they tend to focus on dispositions

Front 48

prejudice

Back 48

negative feelings, opinions and beliefs associated with stereotypes

Front 49

discrimination

Back 49

the inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people as a result of prejudice

Front 50

modern racism

Back 50

subtle form of prejudice that coexist with the rejection of racist beliefs

Front 51

neophobia

Back 51

the fact that humans generally fear anything novel

Front 52

"what is beautiful is good" stereotype

Back 52

the belief that attractive people are superior in most ways

Front 53

passionate love

Back 53

a state of intense longing and desire

Front 54

companionate love

Back 54

a strong commitment based on friendship, trust, respect and intimacy