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