AP Psych Unit 11: Social Psychology

Outgroup

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

Ingroup

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

Attribution Theory

a theory that supposes that one attempts to understand the behavior of others by attributing feelings, beliefs, and intentions to them

Mood Linkage

efers to the human tendency to absorb and participate in the prevailing mood of the other people around

Attraction

feelings of liking for others, together with having positive thoughts about them and inclinations to act toward them in positive ways

Attitude

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

Informational Social Influence

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

Self-Disclosure

revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

Discrimination

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

Zimbardo/Stanford Experiment

A study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. Conclusion of the experiment was that people will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play, especially if the roles are as strongly stereotyped as those of the prison guards

Hindsight Bias

After an event, people often believe that they knew the outcome of the event before it actually happened

Milgram Teacher/Student Experiment

Experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram on obedience in which a teacher is told to administer an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake, increasing the level of shock each time. Conclusion was that ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being

Asch Conformity Experiment

Refers to a series of studies directed by Solomon Asch studying if and how individuals yield to or defy a majority group and the effect of such influences on beliefs and opinions. Conclusion was that apparently, people conform for two main reasons: because they want to fit in with the group (normative influence) and because they believe the group is better informed than they are (informational influence).

Stereotype

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

Role

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

Conformity

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

Passionate Love

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

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.

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.

Chameleon Effect

common phenomenon in which people tend to mimic people around them unconsciously

"Door In The Face" Phenomenon

compliance technique in which refusal of a large technique in which refusal of a large unreasonable request is followed by a smaller, more reasonable request

Normative Social Influence

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

Mirror-Image Perceptions

mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive.

Social Identities

parts of our psychological identity that involve our sense of ourselves as members of particular groups

Theory of Attraction

people are attracted to those who in some way make them feel good, or are attracted to those who remind them of people that they enjoy being around

Aggression

physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

Reciprocity

responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions.

Social Facilitation

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

Personal Space

the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies.

Companionate Love

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

Culture

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

Group Polarization

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

Deindividuation

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

Groupthink

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

Mere Exposure Effect

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

Frustration-Aggression Principle

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

Social Psychology

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

Bystander Effect

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

Altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

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.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

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

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

Social Exchange Theory

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

Scapegoat Theory

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

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.

Catharsis Hypothesis

If you buy a punching bag, or release your aggression by playing Quake, or by screaming, then you will be less violent and aggressive in day-to-day life, having "released" your aggression

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.

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.