Chapter 14: Social Psychology
social facilitation
the process by which a person's performance is increased when other members of a group engage in similar behavior
Deindividuation
the process by which group members may discontinue self-evaluation and adopt group norms and attitudes
effort justification
Tendency to seek justification for strenuous efforts
fundamental attribution error
The assumption that another person's behavior, especially clumsy, inappropriate, or otherwise undesirable behavior, is the result of a flaw in the personality, rather than in the situation.
attraction
in social psychology, an attitude of liking (positive attraction) or disliking (negative attraction)
consummate love
passion + intimacy + commitment
social decision schemes
rules for predicting the final outcome of group decision making on the basis of the members' initial positions
Attribution
a belief concerning why people behave in a certain way
passion
strong romantic and sexual feelings
foot-in-the-door technique
a method for inducing compliance in which a small request is followed by a larger request
Groupthink
a process in which group members are influenced by cohesiveness and a dynamic leader to ignore external realities as they make decisions
attitude-discrepant behavior
behavior inconsistent with an attitude that may have the effect of modifying an attitude
intamacy
being very close and familiar, as in relationships involving private and personal sharing
evaluation apprehension
concern for how others are evaluating us
selective exposure
deliberately seeking and attending to information that is consistent with one's attitudes
selective avoidance
diverting one's attention from information that is inconsistent with one's attitudes
Stereotyping
erroneous assumptions that all members of a group share the same traits or characteristics
attitude
feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
Discrimination
hostile behavior directed against groups toward whom one is prejudice
altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others
fear appeal
a type of persuasive communication that influences behavior on the basis of arousing fear instead of rational analysis of the issues
romantic love
an intense, positive emotion that involves sexual attraction, feelings of caring, and the belief that one is in love
triangular model of love
Sternberg's view that love involves combinations of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment
social perception
a subfield of social psychology that studies the ways in which we form and modify impressions of others
situational attribution
an assumption that a person's behavior is determined by external circumstances such as the social pressure found in a situation.
dispositional attribution
an assumption that a person's behavior is determined by internal causes such as personal traits
social influence
the area of social psychology that studies the ways in which people influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of others
social psychology
the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
commitment
A pledge or promise to maintain a realtionship
actor-observer effect
The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional causes but to attribute one's own behavior to situational causes.
prejudice
an attitude, positive or negative, toward people because of their group membership
A-B problem
the issue of how well we can predict behavior on the basis of attitudes
diffusion of responsibility
the spreading or sharing of responsibility for a decision or behavior within a group
self-serving bias
the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors
bystander effect
the tendency to avoid helping other people in emergencies when other people are also present and apparently capable of helping
primacy effect
the tendency to evaluate others in terms of first impressions
elaboration likelihood model
the view that persuasive messages are evaluated (elaborated) on the basis of central and peripheral cues
cognitive dissonance theory
the view that we are motivated to make our cognitions or beliefs consistent with each other and with our behavior