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