Psych Chapter 14

self-fulfilling prophecy

Self-fulfilling prophecies are expectations about the occurrence of a future event or behavior that act to increase the likelihood the event or behavior will occur. For example, if people think that members of a specific group lack ambition, they may treat them in a way that actually brings about a lack of ambition. Furthermore, it can lead to a self-perpetuating phenomenon that we discuss next

foot-in-the-door technique,

The use of the foot-in-the-door technique begins when a person first makes a small, trivial request. Because the request is easy to comply with, the likelihood that the target of the request will comply is high. Later, though, the target is asked to comply with a significantly larger request. It turns out that compliance with the second request increases substantially when the target has first agreed to the initial, smaller request.

prejudice

a negative (or positive) evaluation of a group and its members. For instance, racial prejudice occurs when a member of a racial group is evaluated in terms of race and not because of his or her own characteristics or abilities. Although prejudice can be positive ("I love the Irish"), social psychologists have focused on understanding the roots of negative prejudice ("I hate immigrants").

Dispositional causes

are causes of behavior brought about by a person's traits or personality characteristics.

Situational causes

are causes of behavior that are external to a person. For instance, someone who knocks over a quart of milk and then cleans it up probably does the cleaning not because he or she is necessarily a neat person but because the situation requires it.

halo effect

assumed-similarity bias, self-serving bias, and fundamental attribution error (the tendency to over-attribute others' behavior to dispositional causes and the corresponding failure to recognize the importance of situational causes).

Conformity

is a change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people. Subtle or even unspoken social pressure results in conformity.

Discrimination

is behavior directed toward individuals on the basis of their membership in a particular group. Discrimination can lead to exclusion from jobs, neighborhoods, and educational opportunities, and it may result in lower salaries and benefits for members of specific groups. Discrimination can also result in more favorable treatment to favored groups—for example, when an employer hires a job applicant of his or her own racial group because of the applicant's race

Diffusion of responsibility

is the belief that responsibility for intervening is shared, or diffused, among those present. The more people present in an emergency, the less personally responsible each individual feels—and therefore the less help he or she provides

Social psychology

is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others. Social psychologists consider the kinds and causes of the individual's behavior in social situations. They examine how the nature of situations in which we find ourselves influences our behavior in important ways.

companionate love

is the strong affection we have for those with whom our lives are deeply involved. The love we feel for our parents, other family members, and even some close friends falls into the category of companionate love

Cognitive dissonance

occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts

peripheral route processing

occurs when people are persuaded on the basis of factors unrelated to the nature or quality of the content of a persuasive message. Instead, factors that are irrelevant or extraneous to the issue, such as who is providing the message, how long the arguments are, or the emotional appeal of the arguments, influence them

Central route processing

occurs when the recipient thoughtfully considers the issues and arguments involved in persuasion. In central route processing, people are swayed in their judgments by the logic, merit, and strength of arguments.

Passionate (or romantic) love

represents a state of intense absorption in someone. It includes intense physiological arousal, psychological interest, and caring for the needs of another

door-in-the-face technique,

someone makes a large request, expects it to be refused, and follows it with a smaller one. This strategy, which is the opposite of the foot-in-the-door approach, has also proved to be effective

fundamental attribution error

which is the tendency to overattribute others' behavior to dispositional causes and the corresponding failure to recognize the importance of situational causes. The fundamental attribution error is prevalent in Western cultures. We tend to exaggerate the importance of personality characteristics (dispositional causes) in producing others' behavior and minimize the influence of the environment (situational factors).