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AP Psychology Unit14
Social Psychology
| social psychology | the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another |
| attribution theory | the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition |
| fundamental attribution error | the tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition |
| attitude | feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events |
| central route persuasion | attitude change path in which interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts |
| peripheral route persuasion | attitude change path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness |
| foot-in-the-door phenomenon | the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request |
| role | a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave |
| cognitive dissonance theory | the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent |
| conformity | adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard |
| normative social influence | influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval |
| informational social influence | influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality |
| social facilitation | stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others |
| social loafing | the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable |
| deindividuation | the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity |
| group polarization | the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group |
| groupthink | the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives |
| culture | the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next |
| norm | an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior |
| personal space | the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies |
| prejudice | an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members |
| stereotype | a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people |
| discrimination | (1) in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. (2) unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members |
| ingroup | “Us”—people with whom we share a common identity |
| outgroup | “Them”—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup |
| ingroup bias | the tendency to favor our own group |
| scapegoat theory | the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame |
| other-race effect | the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races |
| just-world phenomenon | the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get |
| aggression | physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone |
| frustration-aggression principle | the principle that frustration—the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal—creates anger, which can generate aggression |
| mere exposure effect | the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them |
| passionate love | an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship |
| companionate love | the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined |
| equity | a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it |
| self-disclosure | revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others |
| altruism | unselfish regard for the welfare of others |
| bystander effect | the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present |
| social exchange theory | the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs |
| reciprocity norm | an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them |
| social-responsibility norm | an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them |
| conflict | a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas |
| social trap | a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior |
| mirror-image perceptions | mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive |
| self-fulfilling prophecy | a belief that leads to its own fulfillment |
| superordinate goals | shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation |
| GRIT | Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction—a strategy designed to decrease international tensions |