Intro Psych - Social Psychology

territoriality

an attachment to a fixed area designated as "ours" and the tendency to aggressively defend this area against intruders; can be generalized to our sense of space and our possessions; displayed by all organisms

reciprocity norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

compliance

change of behavior in response to an explicit request from another person or group; there are many variable which can change the likelihood of one person to comply with the request or demand from another like: age, gender, ethnicity, status, and social norms

attractiveness

concept that includes physical attractiveness, how desirable a person is to work with, and how much "social value" the person has for others

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

socialization

life-long process of social interaction through which we learn how to function in our society; learning cultural norms and social roles

evaluation apprehension

our fear of being judged in a social setting can keep us from prosocial behavior; plays a role in groupthink, group polarization, compliance, obedience, role conformity, etc.

norms

pattern of learned behaviors that people use to meet the perceived demands of a particular context, Expectations for the way group members will behave while in a group

aggression

physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone

diffusion of responsibility

reduction in sense of responsibility often felt by individuals in a group; plays a role in: the bystander effect, group polarization, risky-shift, social loafing, groupthink, and obedience

group polarization

shifts or exaggeration in group members' preexisting attitudes or behavior as a result of group participation

social exchange

social behavior that involves trade, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

in-group

social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty

conflict

struggle between opposing forces due to a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas or an inequality of resources

Asch experiment

study in which subjects were asked to participate in a group setting determining "which line is the same as the line of on the left" - other students were confederates of the experimenters, often giving wrong answers; subjects conformed to the wrong answer at least once 70% of the time

crowding

subjective feeling of not having enough space per person; different for each culture

social facilitation

the effect of another persons presence on one's performance; typically we perform better on simple or well-learned tasks when we are in presence of others

deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension that often occurs in group situations that can foster responsiveness to group norms - could be good or bad

social psychology

the perspective in psychology that studies how we think about, influence, and relate to one another; examines the influence of culture

risky-shift

the phenomenon that groups often make riskier decisions than individuals will.

frustration-aggression principle

the principle that frustration resulting from an inability to achieve a goal creates anger and aggression

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers of another's behavior to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

door-in-the-face phenomenon

the tendency for people to agree to a second, more reasonable request after first denying an initial large request

social loafing

the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable

self-serving bias

the tendency for people to overestimate the impact of personal disposition when they succeed and overestimate the impact of the situation when they fail

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

out-group

a social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or opposition

groupthink

"The mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action." -Irving Janis (1971)

Stanford Prison expiroment

Philip Zimbardo's experiment showing the power of the situation and role conformity; students were divided into prisoner and prison guard in a recreation of a prison - with Zimbardo acting as the prison warden; the study was called off after only 6 days because many prisoners were showing severe stress reactions and the guards had escalated the abuse beyond Zimbardo's expectations

conformity

adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Milgram study of obedience

Yale University study on obedience and compliance involving a teacher (subject) administering a perceived (not real) electric shock of increasing voltage and danger to a perceived (not real) subject/learner; in pre experiment survey, the participants and psychologists predicted that the vast majority of people would stop after pain was indicated but with men 20-50, 63% fully complied; obedience was highest when: -the person giving orders was close by and perceived as a legit authority -the authority figure was supported by a prestigious institution (not Yale) -the victim was depersonalized or at a distance -there were no role models of defiance

obedience

a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority

stereotype

a generalization about a group of people in which certain traits are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members

altruism

a motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard for one's self-interests

prejudice

a negative belief about a particular group of individuals

proximity

a principle that suggests that we will most likely form relationships (friendships / romantic attachment) with those that are physically near us

role

a set of learned expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

cognitive dissonance

the theory (Festinger) predicting that we will act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions - like beliefs or attitudes) are inconsistent; for example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we often reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes; buyer's remorse is an excellent example

scapegoat theory

the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

attribution theory

the theory that we explain the causes of someone's behavior by crediting either the situation (external factors) or the person's disposition (internal factors)

Kitty Genovese case

woman murdered in NYC that was studied by Darley and Latane due to the bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility, and social influence