SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

• the study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

SOCIAL THINKING:

Attribution Theory 

• The idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior 
• we credit that behavior either to the situation or to the person's disposition 

Fundamental Attribution Error 

• the tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition 

Attitudes

• a belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something 

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon 

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

Door-in-Face Phenomenon 

• the tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one 

Cognitive Dissonance Theory 

• we do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions 
• when they clash, we will change our attitude to create balance 

SOCIAL INFLUENCE:

Conformity

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

Conditions that Strengthen Conformity 

• one is made to feel incompetent 
• the group is at least 3 people 
• the group has to be unanimous 
• one admires the group's status 
• one has made no prior commitment 
• the person is observed 

Reasons for Conforming 

• Normative Social Influence: influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment 
• Informational Social Influence: influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality 

Social Facilitation 

• improved performance of tasks in the presence of others 
• occurs with simple or well learned tasks 
• not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered 

Yerkes-Dodson Law 

• there is an optimal level of arousal for the best performance of any task: 
• easy tasks - relatively high 
• difficult tasks - low arousal 
• other tasks - moderate level 

Social Loafing 

• the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable 

Deindividuation

• the loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity 

Group Polarization 

• the concept that a groups attitude is one of extremes and rarely moderate 

Groupthink 

• the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides common sense

Self Fulfilling Prophecies 

• occurs when one person beliefs about others leads one to act in ways that induce the others to appear to confirm the belief

SOCIAL RELATIONS:

Prejudice

• an unjustifiable attitude towards a group of people 
• usually involves stereotyped beliefs (a generalized belief about a group of people)

Social Inequalities 

• Ingroup: "us" - people with whom one shares s common identity 
• Outgroup: "them" - those perceived as different from those in the ingroup 
• Ingroup Bias: the tendency to favor ones own group 

Scapegoat Theory 

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

Aggression

• any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy 

Conflict 

• a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

Love 

• Passionate Love: an aroused state of INTENSE positive absorption of each other
• Compassionate/Companionate Love: the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

Altruism 

• unselfish regard for the welfare of others
• Kitty Genovese case
• Bystander Effect: bystanders are less willing to help if there are other bystanders around