Chapter 18: Social Influences

De-individuation

A psychological state occurring in group members that results in loss of individuality and a tendency to do things not normally done when alone.

Social interference

A reduction in performance due to the presence of other people.

Social dilemma

A situation in which actions that produce rewards for one individual will produce negative consequences if adopted by everyone.

Prisoner's dilemma game

A social dilemma scenario in which mutual cooperation guarantees the best mutual outcome.

Zero-sun game

A social situation in which one person's gains are subtracted from another person's resources so that the sum of the gains and losses is zero.

Arousal: cost-reward theory

A theory attributing people's helping behavior to their efforts to reduce the unpleasant arousal they feel in the face of someone's need or suffering.

Empathy-altruism theory (empathy-altrusim helping theory)

A theory suggesting that people help other's because of empathy with their needs.

Compliance

Adjusting one's behavior because of an explicit or implicit request.

Aggression

An act that is intended to cause harm to another person.

Altruism

An unselfish concern for another person's welfare.

Helping behavior (pro-social behavior)

Any act that is intended to benefit another person.

Cooperation

Any type of behavior in which people work together to attain a goal.

Competition

Behavior in which individuals try to attain a goal for themselves while denying that goal to others.

Obedience

Changing behavior in response to a demand from an authority figure.

Conformity

Changing one's behavior or beliefs to match those of others, generally as a result of real or imagined, though unspoken, group pressure.

Social loafing

Exerting less effort when performing a group task than when performing the same task alone.

Social norms

Socially based rules that prescribe what people should or should not do in various situations.

Social influence

The process whereby one person's behavior is affected by the words or actions of others.

Conflict

The result of a person's or group's belief that another person or group stands in the way of their achieving a valued goal.

Environmental psychology

The study of the relationship between behavior and the physical environment.

Task motivated leader

A leader who provides close supervision, leads by directives, and generally discourages group discussion

Relationship-motivated leader

A leader who provides loose supervision, asks for group members' ideas, and is concerned with subordinate's feelings.

Groupthink

A pattern of thinking in which group members fail to evaluate realistically the wisdom of various options and decisions.

Bystander effect

A phenomenon in which the chances that someone will help in an emergency decrease as the number of people present increases.

Social facilitation

A phenomenon in which the presence of others improves a person's performance.

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

A proposition that frustration always leads to some form of aggressive behavior.