Social Psych Final - Definitions Only

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Social facilitation effect

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The tendency for individuals to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when in the presence of others

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Social loafing

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The tendency for individuals to do worse on simple tasks and better on complex tasks when we blend in with the crowd (exert less effort when individual contributions can't be monitored)

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Deindividuation

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The loosening of normative constraints on behavior when an individual is in a group (the group provides us with a shield of anonymity)

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Process loss

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Any aspect of group interaction that inhibits problem solving

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Groupthink

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When promoting group cohesion is more important than considering facts in a realistic manner

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Group polarization

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Groups tend to make decisions that are more extreme than individuals would (whatever way the individuals are leaning, group discussion tends to make them lean further in that direction)

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Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG)

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Benefit of the group comes at a cost to the individual, involves both corresponding and competing interests (ex. Arms Race)

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Titt-for-tat strategy

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Cooperate on the first round, then reciprocate what the opponent did on the previous round (rewards cooperation, leads to best outcomes)

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Social dilemma

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A conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual (if chosen by enough people) is harmful to everyone in the group

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Commons dilemma

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Group draws from a common resource - if used in moderation the resource will replenish itself, but if overused it will disappear (immediate positive outcome, delayed negative outcome)

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Public goods dilemma

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A minimum number of people must contribute to a common pool in order to maintain a public good that is enjoyed by all members of the group (immediate negative outcome, delayed positive outcome)

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Zero-sum/distributive bargaining

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When goals of each party are so interconnected that only one can achieve (i.e., resources are scarce)

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Integrative bargaining

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Mutual gain solution where one party's achievement facilitates another's goals (positive correlation between each party's goals)

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Mixed-motives bargaining

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Involves both corresponding and competing interests; the challenge is to maximize the integrative potential (most common interdependence structure BY FAR)

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Prejudice

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Generalized ATTITUDE toward members of a group

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Stereotype

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Generalized BELIEF about members of a group

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Discrimination

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BEHAVIORS directed towards people on the basis of their group membership

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Minimal intergroup paradigm

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Members of groups created randomly still give preferential treatment to other in-group members

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Realistic group conflict theory

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Negative prejudices and stereotypes emerge from actual intergroup competition for resources (ex. during periods of economic difficulty, competing for jobs)

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Social identity

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Beliefs and feelings we have towards the groups that we belong to

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Perceived outgroup homogeneity

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Overestimating how similar members of another group are to each other (an outgroup's similarity is much stronger than our own ingroup's similarity) - think about sororities!

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Indirect aggression

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Attempt to hurt/harm without obvious face-to-face contact (social manipulation, rumors, etc.)

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Direct aggression

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Face-to-face injurious behavior

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Emotional aggression

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Hurtful behaviors that stem from anger/other emotions

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Instrumental aggression

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Behavior intended to harm another in the service of motives other than pure hostility (attracting attention, acquiring wealth)

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Frustration-aggression hypothesis

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The view that frustration, or failure to reach a certain desired goal due to circumstance, often leads to aggression, or behavior which intends harm

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Excitation-transfer theory

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A theory suggesting that arousal produced in one situation can persist and intensify emotional reactions occurring in later situations

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Social learning theory of aggression

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People learn aggressive behaviors through watching others model them and through rewards (either watching rewards or receiving them)

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Prosocial behavior

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Any action intended to benefit another, regardless of motive

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Benevolence

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Benefitting someone else for no external reward, but you can feel an intrinsic reward (feel better about yourself)

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Pure altruism

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Helping someone else intentionally for no internal or external reward (some argue that it must involve a cost to you as well)

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Inclusive fitness

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An organism can be altruistic toward another organism to the degree that it shares genes with that other organism (but you'd probably be more altruistic toward your best friend than your third cousin)

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Reciprocity norm

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Helping others means that they will then help us in the future

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Social exchange theory - helping behaviors

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Helping behavior stems from the desire to maximize rewards and minimize costs (assumes actor is rational); argue that there is no such thing as pure altruism

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Potlatching

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In certain Native American tribes, nobles destroyed almost everything they owned at a festival to show people that they put the tribe above themselves and their goods (prosocial behavior to gain social approval/status)

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Arousal cost-reward model

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Observers help others in order to relieve their own personal distress (functions during emergencies)

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Negative state relief model

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Observers help others in order to improve their mood (functions during non-emergencies)

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Empathy-altruism hypothesis

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Individuals will sometimes help for selfish reasons and sometimes will engage in purely altruistic behavior, depending completely on empathy

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Bystander effect

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

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Social exchange theory - relationships

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The idea that people's feelings about a relationship depend on perceptions of rewards and costs (and chances of finding a better relationship with someone else)

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Equity theory

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The idea that people are happiest with relationships in which rewards and costs are experienced and both parties' contributions are roughly equal

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Propinquity effect

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Being physically (or functionally) close to someone increases our liking of them

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Reciprocal liking

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Being liked by someone else can increase your liking of them (self-fulfilling prophecy?)

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Secure attachment style

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Trust, belief that the other will continue to provide love and support

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Avoidant attachment style

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Defensive detachment from other, scared to get too close so you're boarded off

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Anxious/ambivalent attachment style

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Fear of abandonment and feel like needs aren't being met, very needy type of relationship (tends to be the most negative of the 3)

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Social psychology

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The study of how one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are affected by the real or imagined presence of others

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Person-situation interaction

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All social behavior results from a complex interaction between the person and the situation

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Education matters!

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Being aware of the errors and biases associated with social situations makes us less likely to commit them

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Construal

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People’s interpretations and inferences about the situations they confront (schemas and stereotypes help us do this quickly enough that we don’t realize)

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Fundamental attribution error

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Overestimating the extent to which people's behavior is due to internal factors, and underestimating the effects of the situation

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False consensus effect

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Exaggerating the extent to which our own thoughts and behaviors are typical

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Heuristics

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Mental shortcuts that we use to make judgments quickly and efficiently (allow us to conserve effort in making judgment)

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Availability heuristic

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Shortcut that leads us to base a judgment on how easily something can be brought to mind (how available it is)

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Representativeness heuristic

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Shortcut where we classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case (how representative it is)

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Social comparison theory

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The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people

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Just-world belief

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Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people (relates to attributions: if we see something good happen to someone we don’t like, we assume they cheated or just got lucky)

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Cognitive dissonance theory

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The feeling of discomfort caused by performing an action that isn’t consistent with our conception of ourselves