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