Social Psychology (Myers) Ch 5

androgynous

From andro (man) + gyn (woman) - thus mixing both masculine and feminine characteristics

gender

in psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female

personal space

the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies. its size depends on our familiarity with whoever is near us

culture

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

natural selection

the evolutionary process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing generations

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using principles of natural selection

interaction

a relationship in which the effect of one factor (such as biology) depends on another factor (such as environment)

gender role

a set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females

aggression

physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone. in laboratory experiments, this might mean delivering electric shocks or saying something likely to hurt another's feelings.

norms

standards for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe "proper" behavior. (In a different sense of the word, norms also describe what most others do - what is normal).

empathy

the vicarious experience of another's feelings; putting oneself in another's shoes