Psychology Chapter 14
social decision schemes
rules for predicting the final outcome of group decision making on the basis of the members' initial positions
deidividuation
the process by which group members may discontinue self-evaluation and adopt group norms and attitudes
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
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 that others are evaluating our behavior
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
effort justification
in cognitive-dissonance theory, the tendency to seek justification (acceptable reasons) for strenuous efforts
attraction
in social psychology, an attitude of liking or disliking (negative attraction)
prejudice
is an attitude toward a group that leads people to evaluate members of that group negatively—even though they have never met them
commitment
maintaining and enhancing the relationship
elaboration likelihood model
model of persuasion stating that people will either elaborate on the persuasive message or fail to elaborate on it and that the future actions of those who do elaborate are more predictable than those who do not
altruism
selfless concern for the welfare of others
social influence
the area of social psychology that studies the ways in which people influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of others
Asch Study
Participants were asked to select the line closest in line to length X. When cohorts gave obviously wrong answers, more than 1/3 of the subjects conformed and agreed with the incorrect choices. Depends on group size: 7 is optimal.
triangular model of love
Sternberg's view that love involves combinations of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment
recency effect
The tendency to respond to the most freshly presented piece of information is known as the
groupthink
a process in which group members are influenced, by cohesiveness and a dynamic leader, to ignore external realities as they make decisions
social perception
a subfield of social psychology that studies the ways in which we form and modify impressions of others
attritubution
an assumption or belief about why people behave in a certain way.
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
attitudes
an enduring mental representation of a person, place, or thing that typically evokes an emotional response and related behavior
attraction-similarity hypothesis
people tend to develop romantic relationships with people who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness and other traits
passion
strong feeling or emotion sexual
fundamental attribution error
the assumption that others act predominantly on the basis of their dispositions, even when there is evidence suggesting the importance of their situations
connsummate love
the ideal form of love within Sternberg's model, which combines passion, intimacy, and commitment
social facilitation
the process by which a person's performance is increased when other members of a group engage in similar behavior
diffusion of responsibility
the spreading or sharing of responsibility for a decision or behavior within a group
actor-observer effect
the tendency to attribute our own behavior to situational factors but to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional 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
self-serving bias
the tendency to view one's successes as stemming from internal factors and one's failures as stemming from external factors
cognitive dissonance theory
the view that we are motivated to make our cognitions or beliefs consistent with each other and with our behavior