Exam 4 Study Guide
frustration-aggression hypothesis
states that frustration always leads to aggression, though some individuals who experience frustration become passive and nonaggressive
social identity theory
states that individuals' social identity is a crucial part of their self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about themselves
self-perception theory
stresses that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior
attribution theory
views individuals as motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior
heuristics
are cognitive shortcuts that allow individuals to make decisions rapidly
stereotypes
are generalizations about a group's characteristics, though those traits may vary from one individual to the next
attitudes
are how individuals feel about things; their opinions and beliefs
elaboration likelihood model
explains the relationship between the rational and emotional aspects of appeals. It describes two ways to persuade: one is a central route, which engages someone thoughtfully and the other is a peripheral route, which involves nonmessage factors, such as the credibility and attractiveness
inoculation
giving people weaker arguments, allows people to resist persuasive techniques
self-fulfilling prophecy
individuals' expectations cause them to act in ways that serve to make those expectations come true
Egoism
involves giving to another individual to ensure reciprocity, gain self-esteem, present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring, and avoid social and self-censure for failing to live up to society's expectations
obediance
is a behavior that complies with explicit demands of the individual in authority
positive illusion
is a positive view that an individual has about him- or herself that is not necessarily rooted in reality
social cognition
is an area of psychology that examines how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information
stereotype threat
is an individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear about being judged on the basis of a negative stereotype about his or her group
false consensus effect
is an overestimation of the degree to which everyone else thinks or acts the way an individual does, and it is the result of the individual using his or her own outlook to predict that of others
effort justification
is explained in the following way: Goals that require a lot of effort are the ones that are valued the most. If a great deal of effort is put forth, yet the goal is still not reached, then cognitive dissonance occurs
social contagion
is imitative behavior that involves the spreading of behavior, emotions, and ideas
in-group
is the group to which the individual belongs. The out-group is the other group to which he or she does not belong
agreeableness
is the personality trait most strongly associated with prosocial behaviors
social comparison
is the process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to other people
group polarization
is the solidification and further strengthening of a position as a consequence of a group discussion
social psychology
is the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people
bystander effect
is the tendency for an individual to observe an emergency and to help less when there are other people present than when the observer is alone
primacy effect
is the tendency to attend to and remember what we learned first
ethnocentrism
is the tendency to favor one's own ethnic group over other groups
conformity
is when a person's behavior coincides more closely with a group standard.
altruistic
means giving to another person with the ultimate goal of benefiting that person even if it incurs a cost to oneself
social loafing
occurs when an individual exerts less effort when in a group, because the individual feels less accountable for his or her individual effort
empathy
occurs when an individual feels a oneness with the emotional state of another. The individual truly feels what the other person is feeling and going through because he or she has been there
social facilitation
occurs when an individual's performance improves because of the presence of others. The presence of others arouses individuals and that arousal produces energy
deindividuation
occurs when being part of a group reduces personal identity and erodes the sense of personal responsibility
Reciprocity
occurs when individuals do to others as they have had done to them. Reciprocity can bring about negative feelings, such as guilt if you do not return a favor or anger if someone else does not return a favor
persuasion
occurs when individuals try to change another person's attitudes
cognitive dissonance
occurs when individuals' psychological discomfort is caused by two inconsistent thoughts
risky shift
occurs when there is a tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by the individual group members
door-in-the-face
persuasion technique in which the communicator makes the important point up front (which the listeners will probably reject) and then makes a weaker point at the end
foot-in-the-door
persuasion technique states that the strongest point or demand should be made in the beginning, or makes a small request at the beginning to get them to listen and comply and then asks for something more at the end
groupthink
refers to a group's impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic appraisal in order to maintain group harmony
medium
refers to how the message is presented; meaning what type of technology is used
informational social influence
refers to the influence that other people have on individuals because the individual wants to be right
normative social influence
refers to the influence that others have on an individual because the individual wants others to like them or approve of them
self-objectification
refers to the tendency for people to see themselves primarily as an object in the eyes of others. Self-objectification can interfere with task performance
fundamental attribution error
refers to the tendency of observers to overestimate the importance of internal traits and underestimate the importance of external factors when explaining a person's behavior
self-serving bias
refers to the tendency to take credit for success and to deny responsibility for failures
Social identity
refers to the way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership