Psych 116

Front 1

conformity

Back 1

a change in one's behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people

Front 2

informational social influence

Back 2

the influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information to guide our behavior; we conform because we believe that others' interpretation of an ambiguous situaiton is more correct than ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action

Front 3

private acceptance

Back 3

conforming to other people's behavior out of a genuine belief that what they are doing or saying is right

Front 4

public compliance

Back 4

conforming to other people's behavior publicly without necessarily believing in what we are doing or saying

Front 5

contagion

Back 5

the rapid spread of emotions or behaviors through a crowd

Front 6

mass psychogenic illness

Back 6

the occurrence, in a group of people, of similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause

Front 7

social norm

Back 7

the implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values and beliefs of its members

Front 8

normative social influence

Back 8

the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them; this type of conformity results in public compliance with the group's beliefs and behaviors but not necessarily private acceptance of those beliefs and behaviors

Front 9

social impact theory

Back 9

the idea that conforming to social influence depends on the strength of the group's importance, its immediacy, and the number of people in the group

Front 10

idiosyncrasy credits

Back 10

the tolerance a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms; if enough idiosyncrasy credits are earned, the person can, on occasion, behave deviantly without retribution from the group

Front 11

minority influence

Back 11

the case where a minority of group members influence the behavior or beliefs of the majority

Front 12

injunctive norms

Back 12

people's perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved of by others

Front 13

descriptive norms

Back 13

people's perceptions of how people actually behave in given situations, regardless of whether the behavior is approved or disapproved of by others

Front 14

group

Back 14

two or more people who interact and are interdependent in teh sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence one another

Front 15

social roles

Back 15

shared expectations in a group about how particular people are supposed to behave

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group cohesiveness

Back 16

qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members

Front 17

social facilitation

Back 17

the tendency for people to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance can be evaluated

Front 18

social loafing

Back 18

the tendency for people to do worse on simple tasks but better on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance cannot be evaluated

Front 19

deindividuation

Back 19

the loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people can't be identified (such as when they're in a group), leading to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts

Front 20

process loss

Back 20

any aspect of group interaciton that inhibits good problem solving

Front 21

transactive memory

Back 21

the combined memory of two people that is more efficient than the memory of either individual

Front 22

groupthink

Back 22

a kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner

Front 23

group polarization

Back 23

the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of its members

Front 24

great person theory

Back 24

the idea that certain key personality traits make a person a good leader, regardless of the situation

Front 25

transactional leaders

Back 25

leaders who set clear, short term goals and reward people who meet them

Front 26

transformational leaders

Back 26

leaders who inspire followers to focus on common, long term goals

Front 27

contingency theory of leadership

Back 27

the idea that leadership effectiveness depends both on how task oriented or relationship oriented the leader is and on the amount of control and influence the leader has over the group

Front 28

task-oriented leader

Back 28

a leader who is concerned more with getting the job done than with workers' feelings and relationships

Front 29

relationship-oriented leader

Back 29

a leader who is concerned primarily with workers' feelings and relationships

Front 30

social dilemma

Back 30

a conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, have harmful effects on everyone

Front 31

tit-for-tat strategy

Back 31

a means of encouraging cooperation by at first acting cooperatively but then always responding the way your opponent did (cooperatively or competitively) on the previous trial

Front 32

public goods dilemma

Back 32

a social dilemma in which individuals must contribute to a common pool in order to maintain the public good

Front 33

commons dilemma

Back 33

a social dilemma in which everyone takes from a common pool of goods that will replenish itself if used in moderation but will disappear if overused

Front 34

negotiation

Back 34

a form of communication between opposing sides in a conflict in which offers and counteroffers are made and a solution occurs only when both parties agree

Front 35

integrative solution

Back 35

a solution to a conflict whereby the parties make trade offs on issues according to their different interests; each side concedes the most on issues that are unimportant to it but important to the other side

Front 36

propinquity effect

Back 36

the finding that the more we see and interact with people, the more likely they are to become our friends

Front 37

mere exposure effect

Back 37

the finding that the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it

Front 38

social exchange theory

Back 38

the idea that people's feelings about a relationship depend on their perceptions of the rewards and costs of the relationship, the kind of relationship they deserve, and their chances for having a better relationship with someone else

Front 39

comparison level

Back 39

people's expectations about the level of rewards and punishments they are likely to receive in a particular relationship

Front 40

comparison level for alternatives

Back 40

people's expectations about the level of rewards and punishments they would receive in an alternative relationship

Front 41

compassionate love

Back 41

the intimacy and affection we feel when we care deeply for a person but do not experience passion or arousal in the person's presence

Front 42

passionate love

Back 42

an intense longing we feel for a person, accompanied by physiological arousal; when our love is reciprocated, we feel great fulfillment and ecstasy, but when it is not, we feel sadness and despair

Front 43

evolutionary approach to love

Back 43

theory derived from evolutionary biology that holds that men adn women are attracted to different characterisitcs in each other (men attracted by women's appearance, women attracted by men's resources) because this maximizes their chances of reproductive success

Front 44

evolutionary psychology

Back 44

the attempt to explain social behavior in terms of genetic factors that evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection

Front 45

attachment styles

Back 45

the expectations people develop about relationships with others, based on teh relationship they had with their primary caregiver when they were infants

Front 46

secure attachment style

Back 46

an attachment style characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the view that one is worthy and well liked

Front 47

avoidant attachment style

Back 47

an attachment style characterized by a suppression of attachment needs, because attempts to be intimate have been rebuffed, people with this style find it difficult to develop intimate relationships

Front 48

anxious/ambivalent attachment style

Back 48

an attachment style characterized by a concern that others will not reciprocate one's desire for intimacy, resulting in higher-than-average levels of anxiety

Front 49

investment model

Back 49

the theory that people's commitment to a relationship depends not only on their satsfaciton with the relationship in terms of rewards, costs, and comparison level and their comparison level for alternatives but also on how much they have invested in the relationship that would be lost by leaving it

Front 50

exchange relationships

Back 50

relationships governed by the need for equity (ex. for an equal ratio of rewards and costs)

Front 51

communal relationship

Back 51

relationship in which people's primary concern is being responsive to the other person's needs

Front 52

prosocial behavior

Back 52

any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person

Front 53

altruism

Back 53

the desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper

Front 54

kin selection

Back 54

the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection

Front 55

norm of reciprocity

Back 55

the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future

Front 56

empathy

Back 56

the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions the way that person experiences them

Front 57

empathy-altruism hypothesis

Back 57

the idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help that person purely for altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain

Front 58

altruistic personality

Back 58

the qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations

Front 59

in-group

Back 59

the group with which an individual identifies as a member

Front 60

out-group

Back 60

any group with which an individual does not identify

Front 61

negative-state relief hypothesis

Back 61

the diea that people help in order to alleviate their own sadness and distress

Front 62

urban overload hypothesis

Back 62

the theory that people living in cities are constantly being bombarded with stimulation and that they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it

Front 63

bystander effect

Back 63

the finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help

Front 64

pluralistic ignorance

Back 64

bystanders' assuming that nothing is wrong in an emergency because no one else looks concerned

Front 65

diffusion of responsibility

Back 65

the phenomenon whereby each bystander's sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases

Front 66

aggression

Back 66

intentional behavior aimed at doing harm or causing pain to another person

Front 67

hostile aggression

Back 67

aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain

Front 68

instrumental aggression

Back 68

aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain

Front 69

eros

Back 69

the instinct toward life, posited by Freud

Front 70

thanatos

Back 70

according to Freud, an instinctual drive toward death, leading to aggressive actions

Front 71

amygdala

Back 71

an area in teh core of the brain that is associated with aggressive behaviors

Front 72

serotonin

Back 72

a chemical in teh brain that may inhibit aggressive impulses

Front 73

testosterone

Back 73

a hormone associated with aggression

Front 74

frustration-aggression theory

Back 74

the idea that frustration- the perception that you are being prevented from attaining a goal- increases the probability of an aggressive response

Front 75

aggressive stimulus

Back 75

an object that is associated with aggressive responses (ex. gun) and whose mere presence can increase the probability of aggression

Front 76

social learning theory

Back 76

the idea that we learn social behavior (ex. aggression) by observing others and imitating them

Front 77

scripts

Back 77

ways of behaving socially that we learn implicitly from our culture

Front 78

catharsis

Back 78

the notion that blowing off steam by performing an aggressive act, watching others engage in aggressive behaviors, or engaging in a fantasy of aggression relieves built up aggressive energies and hence reduces the likelihood of further aggressive behavior

Front 79

prejudice

Back 79

a hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group of people, based solely on their membership in that group

Front 80

stereotype

Back 80

a generalization about a group of people in which certain traits are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members

Front 81

discrimination

Back 81

unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because of his or her membership in that group

Front 82

out-group homogeneity

Back 82

the perception that individuals in teh out-group are more similar to each other than they really are, as well as more similar than the members of the in-group are

Front 83

illusory correlation

Back 83

the tendency to see relationships, or correlations, between events that are actually unrelated

Front 84

ultimate attribution error

Back 84

the tendency to make dispositional attributions about an entire group of people

Front 85

stereotype threat

Back 85

the apprehension experience by members of a group that their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype

Front 86

blaming the victim

Back 86

the tendency to blame individuals (make dispositional attributions) for their victimizaiton, typically motivated by a desire to see the world as a fair place

Front 87

self-fulfilling prophecy

Back 87

the case whereby people have an expectation about what another person is like, which influences how they act toward that person, which causes that person to behave in a way consistent with people's original expectations

Front 88

realistic conflict theory

Back 88

the idea that limited resources lead to conflict between groups and result in increased prejudice and discrimination

Front 89

scapegoating

Back 89

the tendency for individuals, when frustrated or unhappy, to displace aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible, and relatively powerless

Front 90

instituionalized racism

Back 90

racist attitudes that are held by teh vast majority of people living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm

Front 91

institutionalized sexism

Back 91

sexist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm

Front 92

normative conformity

Back 92

the tendency to go along with the group in order to fulfill the group's expectations and gain acceptance

Front 93

modern racism

Back 93

outwardly acting unprejudiced while inwardly maintaining prejudiced attitudes

Front 94

mutual interdependence

Back 94

the situation that exists when two or more groups need each other and must depend on each other to accomplish a goal that is important to each of them

Front 95

jigsaw classroom

Back 95

a classroom setting designed to reduce prejudice adn raise the self-esteem of children by placing them in small, desegregated groups and making each child dependent on the other children in the group to learn the course material and do well in the class