AP Psychology: Chapters 17/18-Social Cognition/Influence
aggression
an act that is intended to cause harm to another person
fundamental attribution error
a bias toward overattributing the behavior of others to internal causes
task-oriented leader
a leader who provides close supervision, leads by directives, and generally discourages group discussion
person-oriented leader
a leader who provides loose supervision, asks for group members' ideas, and is concerned with subordinates' feelings
elaboration likelihood model
a model suggesting that attitude change can be driven by the evaluation of the content of a persuasive message (central route) or by irrelevant persuasion cues (peripheral route)
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 increase
social facilitation
a phenomenon in which the presence of others improves a person's performance
prejudice
a positive or negative attitude toward an entire group of people
attitude
a predisposition toward a particular cognitive, emotional, or behavioral reaction to objects
self-fulfilling prophecy
a process through which an initial impression of someone leads that person to behave in accordance with that impression
frustration-aggression hypothesis
a proposition that frustration always leads to some from of aggressive behavior
deindividuation
a psychological state occurring in group members that result in loss of individuality and a tendency to do things not normally done when alone
social impairment
a reduction in performance due to the presence of other people
resource dilemma
a situation in which people that must share a common resource, creating conflicts between the short-term interests of individuals and the long-term interests of the group
prisoner's dilemma
a social dilemma in which mutual cooperation guarantees the best mutual outcome
zero-sum 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
cognitive dissonance theory
a theory asserting that attitude change is driven by efforts to reduce tension caused by inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors
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
self-perception theory
a theory suggesting that attitudes can change as people consider their behavior in certain situations and then infer what their attitude must be
empathy-altruism theory
a theory suggesting that people help others because of empathy with their needs
compliance
adjusting one's behavior because or an explicit or implicit request
altruism
an unselfish concern for another's welfare
helping 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
reference groups
categories of people to which people compare themselves
obedience
changing behavior in response to a demand from an authority figure
conformity
changing one's beliefs or behaviors to match those of others, generally as a result of real or imagined, though unspoken, group pressure
discrimination
differential treatment of various groups; the behavior component of prejudice
social loafing
exerting less effort when performing a group task than when performing the same task alone
stereotypes
false assumptions that all members of some groups share the same charatceristics
social cognition
mental processes associated with people's perceptions of, and reactions to, other people
self-schemas
mental representations that people form of themselves
social dilemmas
situations in which actions that produce rewards for one individual will produce negative consequences if adopted by everyone
norms
socially based rules that prescribe what people should or should not do in various situations
relative deprivation
the belief that, in comparison to a reference group, one is getting less than is deserved
social identity
the beliefs that we hold about the groups to which we belong
self-esteem
the evaluations people make about how worthy they are as human beings
contact hypothesis
the idea that stereotypes and prejudice toward a group will diminish as contact with the group increases
matching hypothesis
the notion that people are most likely to form relationships with those who are similar to themselves in physical attractions
attribution
the process of explaining the causes of people's behavior, including our own
social influence
the process whereby one person's behavior is affected by the words or actions of others
social perception
the processes through which people interpret information about others, draw inferences about them, and develop mental representations of them
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
social psychology
the study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behavior influence, and our influenced by, the behavior of others
environmental psychology
the study of the relationship between behavior and the physical environment
actor-observer bias
the tendency to attribute others people's behavior to internal causes while attributing our own behavior (especially errors and failures) to external causes
self-serving bias
the tendency to attribute our successes to internal characteristics while blaming our failures on external causes
self-concept
the way one thinks of oneself
temporal comparison
using one's previous performance or characteristics as a basis for judging oneself in the present
social comparison
using other people as a basis of comparison for evaluating oneself
